emref · nyein thiri swe, kalyar ei ei lwin, nay zaw phyo, thiha soe and thang chansang are...

Performance AnalysisState & Region Hluttaws

(Local Legislatures) of Myanmar

(2010 - 2015)

March 2017

Second Edition

Table of Contents .....Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Legislation ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 - Legislative outputs ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 - Legislative effectiveness and constraints ................................................................................................................................. 10

Oversight ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12Public access and communication ......................................................................................................................................................... 14Institution building and individual capacity building .......................................................................................................... 15Administrative support from hluttaw offices ............................................................................................................................... 17

Recommendations .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18 - Structural limitations and barriers .................................................................................................................................................... 18 - Limited institutional and human capacity .................................................................................................................................. 19 - Personal attributes or leadership capacity ............................................................................................................................... 19

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 - Objectives ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 - Research Questions ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 - Focus Areas ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 - Performance Indicators .............................................................................................................................................................................. 22 - Scope of Research ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 - Target Respondents .................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 - Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25 - Limitations ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 25

Key Findings ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 26 - Legislation ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 26 - Legislative outputs ................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 - Legislative effectiveness and constraints ............................................................................................................................... 30 - Structural limitations ................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 - Limited institutional and human capacity ................................................................................................................................ 33 - Personal attributes ................................................................................................................................................................................... 34

Oversight ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 37 - Oversight effectiveness and constraints ................................................................................................................................... 37

Public Access and Communication ....................................................................................................................................................... 43Institution building and individual capacity building .......................................................................................................... 46Administrative support from hluttaw offices .............................................................................................................................. 49

Conclusion and Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................... 52 - Structural limitations and barriers .................................................................................................................................................... 52 - Limited institutional and human capacity .................................................................................................................................. 52 - Personal attributes or leadership skills ........................................................................................................................................ 53

Annex A. Summary table of the populations of studied hluttaws ................................................................................... 54Annex B. Summary table of key indicators and tangible and intangible sub-indicators ................................ 55Annex C. The occupational background of hluttaw speakers and chief ministers and the relationships between legislative and executive officials ........................................................................................................ 56Annex D. Sample Budget of Studied Hluttaws .................................................................................................................................. 57Annex E. Mon State Hluttaw Website ..................................................................................................................................................... 58Annex F. Sample newsletters distributed by Karen State Hluttaw and Yangon Region Hluttaw ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 59

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State & Region Hluttaws (Local Legislatures) of Myanmar (2010 - 2015)

AcknowledgmentsThe Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF) would like to thank all of the respon-

dents in the studied states and regions who took time to meet and share their experiences. The success of this study is indebted to the openness and interest of speakers and members of the state and region hluttaws, state and region ministers and government officials, including the hlut-taws’ administrative personnel, civil society leaders, local media, and local political party leaders. Furthermore, several local civil society representatives helped facilitate key elements of the field-work. Without this support, the research would have been much more difficult.

EMReF would also like to thank the many individuals who provided their expertise and advice on earlier drafts of the report, particularly U Saw Myint Maung, Sayar Kyaw Win, Kim Ninh, Ardeth Thawnghmung, Matthew Walton, Mael Raynaud, Bing Bonoan, and Erin McAuliffe. The members of the study team- Myat The Thitsar, Dr. Nang Mo Hom, Thet Aung Lynn, Tinzar Htun, Zaw Min Oo, Nyein Thiri Swe, Kalyar Ei Ei Lwin, Nay Zaw Phyo, Thiha Soe and Thang Chansang are acknowl-edged for their knowledge, commitment and efforts they contributed into the study. Lastly, EMReF would like to acknowledge The Asia Foundation for their support of the research under a Partner-ship Agreement.

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Performance Analysis

DisclaimerThe publication of this report was made possible with the support of The Asia Foundation. The

views and opinions expressed in this report are that of the Enlightened Myanmar Research Foun-dation and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Asia Foundation. Any faults in the content or analysis rest with the key author, Myat The Thitsar.

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GlossaryAMRDP All Mon Region Democracy Party ANP Arakan National Party CPP Chin Progressive Party CSOs Civil Society Organizations DNA Data Not Available DP (M) Democratic Party (Myanmar)EMReF Enlightened Myanmar Research FoundationGAD General Administration Department Gov’t Government Hluttaw/hluttaw Legislatures IDA Institute for Development of AdministrationINDP Inn National Development Party KNP Kayin National Party KPP Kayin Peoples Party KSDDP Kayin State Democracy and Development Party LNDP Lahu National Development Party MDRI-CESD Myanmar Development Resource Institute MPs Members of ParliamentMPU Myanmar Parliamentary Union NDF National Democratic Force NDPD National Democratic Party for DevelopmentNLD National League for Democracy NUP National Unity Party PNO Pa-O National Organization PSDP Phalone-Sqaw Democratic Party RNDP Rakhine Nationalities Development Party SNDP Shan Nationalities Democracy Party TNP Ta-arng (Palaung) National Party UDs Unit Departments UNDP United Nations Development Programme USDP Union Solidarity and Development Party WDP Wa Democratic Party 88GSY The 88 Generation Student Youth (Union of Myanmar)

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Executive SummaryThe state and regions hluttaws (parliaments), or local legislatures, are important pillars of

Myanmar’s political infrastructure. They are critical for the development of a federal system in Myanmar. Although local legislatures are crucial to decentralization, insufficient attention has been paid to their current performance and the challenges they must overcome to strengthen as institutions. While both the local executive and local legislative institutions are in nascent stages of development, they are struggling with the shifting power dynamic that followed the 2015 gener-al election. Aside from protecting and asserting their position as federal institutions against the Union Government, the state and region hluttaws are in a challenging position to effectively apply checks and balances on the executive institutions of the states and regions. Structural constraints as well as organizational and individual limitations have inhibited local legislatures from taking significant strides towards thriving as effective federal institutions. These constraints and limita-tions hinder decentralization.

This report aims to inform policy makers, political actors, civil societies and international do-nors, experts and academics on the performance of Myanmar’s state and region hluttaws, key federal institutions, during their first term from 2010 to 2015 and to provide recommendations to strengthen these institutions. This study further aims to provide baseline information on regional hluttaw performance. The intention is that this baseline data will assist continuing efforts to devel-op effective mechanisms for assessing the performance of the local legislatures so that hluttaws may conduct regular self-assessments. It is also intended to help CSOs and community experts regularly monitor hluttaw performance so that they can assist in helping them improve their effec-tiveness as federal institutions. The baseline information is based on a series of key informant in-terviews, focus group discussions and data collected using data formats developed in coordina-tion with the administrative offices in four states and four regions. EMReF conducted ninety-seven total interviews with different key stakeholders, including hluttaw speakers, members of parlia-ment, office staff, some cabinet ministers, local CSOs, the media and political party leaders.

The study aims to answer two broad research questions:

1. How effectively did the state and region hluttaws perform between 2010 and 2015? How did their performance vary?

2. What challenges, constraints, opportunities and future improvements influence the legis-lative performance needed for these hluttaws to become strong federal institutions that contribute to democratic state building in Myanmar?

The study addressed the above research questions through six focus areas: 1. Legislations; 2. Oversight; 3. Public Access and Communication 4. Inclusion 5. Institution Building and Individual Capacity Building; 6. Administrative Capacity.

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LegislationThe study analyzed both the legislative outputs, or the level of work completed, and legislative

effectiveness, or the quality of work, as well as legislative constraints.

Legislative outputs

The number of non-routine laws1 is a key visible and tangible output indicator of legislative effectiveness. Most non-routine laws are prepared and passed by local hluttaws in response to local policy needs in their respective geographic area, as determined by Schedule Two of the 2008 Constitution. Examples of non-routine laws include the Fishery Law, the Law for Village Firewood Plantation, the Law for Fire and Natural Disaster Preventive Measures, the Law for Household Industry, and the Law for Systematic Transportation of Water Vehicles. Among the hluttaws studied, Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region and Kachin State Hluttaws passed the most non-routine laws: 30, 29 and 27, or 62.5%, 64.4% and 63% of their individual total leg-islative outputs, respectively (see Table 5 and Figure 3).

No state or region hluttaws have passed laws in the economic sector, one of the eight sectors where state and region hluttaws may enact laws, according to Schedule Two of the 2008 Constitution. The economic sector is the second major sector of the eight listed in Sched-ule Two. In all five of the economic sector’s sub-sectors, no state or region government has promul-gated a law. As described by active MPs and CSO leaders, ambiguity over what legislative powers are permissible under Schedule Two is a major limitation. Despite the authority granted to state and region hluttaws under Schedule Two, Union laws severely limit local legislative authority. Following the economic sector, the next fewest number of laws have been promulgated in the in-dustrial sector.

The number of laws amended and replaced is also an important indicator of perfor-mance; it reflects a hluttaw’s ability to respond to the needs and shortfalls of previously passed laws. These laws are considered non-routine laws. In all studied states and regions, concerned local government ministries and departments reviewed laws promulgated by state and region hluttaws during their first two years and amended or replaced original laws. According to local bill committee members, there was a strong need for these amendments and replacements because the laws initial promulgated were heavily influenced by Union laws and thus failed to adequately address local needs.

The number of legislation committee meetings held by hluttaws is also an important indicator of legislative performance. Mon State Hluttaw held the most with 135 legislation committee meetings. Kayin State Hluttaw and Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw followed with 74 and 70 meetings respectively. The Legislation Committee was one of three committees formed by all state and region hluttaws within the first five-year term. According to respondents from the surveyed hluttaws, hluttaws formed these legislation committees to review and prepare bills, which mostly are bills submitted by or to be submitted by local ministries.

1 According to the 2008 Constitution, some laws prepared and submitted to local legislatures by state and region government administrations are identified as routine laws. Routine laws include annual budget laws, the Supplementary Budget Allocation Law, the Local Development Plan Law outlining local priorities, and the Tax Law.

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Legislative effectiveness and constraintsAll studied hluttaws reported that the semi-parliamentary structure of local legisla-

tures, which allows elected local legislative members to simultaneously take positions as executive members, limits the overall effectiveness of local legislatures. The current consti-tution permits such a dual position system in state and region hluttaws despite requiring elected Union legislative members to relinquish their legislative responsibilities if they accept an executive position. Leaders and MPs of the studied hluttaws prefer the policy used by the Union Govern-ment. Several suggested local bi-elections to replace vacant legislative seats, as is practiced at the Union level. These leaders argue that the capacity, role and authority of local legislatures is diluted due to several members holding both legislative and executive positions.

In smaller states and regions where a considerable number of elected members have been appointed to cabinet positions, notably Kayin State, Mon State and Tanintharyi Re-gion, the dual role allowance is a significant problem. Data collected during the study show that 64%, 65%, 55%, and 32% of elected MPs in Kayin State, Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Rakhine State Hluttaws respectively accepted a dual role. This has hindered the effectiveness of the hluttaw, given that only a few “ordinary members” have regularly attended and actively partic-ipated in the hluttaw sessions (see Table 8 and Figure 4).

The ambiguity of what is and is not permissible under Schedule One and Schedule Two of the Constitution2 discourages legislative efforts and interests at the local level. Some active MPs and speakers suggested that clarity is needed in Schedule Two, while others suggest-ed vesting residual power with the states and regions. The areas where local legislative members perceive the most confusion and conflict are the economy, local development activities and taxa-tion. The ambiguity and confusion of legislative authority in the 2008 Constitution has hindered local legislative efforts. Some efforts have been bared as early as the law-making proposal stage while others remain pending. As a result of these structural constraints, local legislatures are re-luctant to initiate new policies.

The limited legal knowledge of local legislative members, particularly in drafting laws, is a significant constraint to hluttaw effectiveness. MPs expressed that this was also the case in local administrative departments. The study found that only a few of the non-routine laws, notably municipal laws and fishery laws, submitted by the state and region ministries were drafted by the relevant administrative departments. Hluttaw legislation committees drafted the remaining non-routine laws and turned them over to the respective ministry for official submission as a bill in the hluttaw.

The limited legal knowledge and experience of local ministries and departments in drafting bills and preparing relevant rules and regulations also constrained and delayed their ability to implement laws promulgated as rules and regulations. Most studied hluttaws confirmed that only about half of their approved administrative laws have relevant rules and reg-ulations developed and submitted by the appropriate departments. Although it is not required for laws to promulgate supporting rules and regulations, both local legislative and executive authori-ties generally perceive such rules and regulations to be necessary.

2 In the Constitution of Myanmar (2008), Schedule One is “The Union Legislative List”, which means the breadth of the power grant-ed to the central government, and the Schedule Two is “The Region or State Legislative List”, which is the residual prerogatives granted to States and Regions (local) governments.

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In only four out of the eight studied hluttaws were speakers with strong leadership abilities able to lead their hluttaws to an observable level of success. These hluttaws were the Mon State, Tanintharyi Region, Sagaing Region, and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws. MPs, local CSOs, and the media all expressed their appreciation for the leadership abilities of these speakers in their relevant state or region. In these four hluttaws, there was an even split between hluttaw speakers of a civilian background and those of a military background. The speakers of the Mon State Hluttaw and Sagaing Region Hluttaw are civilian while those of the Tanintharyi Region Hlut-taw and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw are former military personnel.

The power relationship between local hluttaw speakers and executive officials, particularly chief ministers, influences the effectiveness of hluttaws, particularly during political transition. The study found that the speakers of the Mon State, Tanintharyi Region, Sagaing Region, and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws maintained mutually respectful relationships with the chief minis-ters. These are the same speakers that exemplified strong leadership abilities in their hluttaws.

In Mon State Hluttaw and Sagaing Region Hluttaw, civilian speakers maintained mutu-ally respected relationships with the chief ministers from high profile military backgrounds and successfully led their hluttaws. This earned them good reputations among other local hlut-taws and stakeholders, such as CSOs, the media and their local political opponents. In conducting the study, we found that most respondents thought that speakers coming from senior military positions would be best able to form strong relationships with chief ministers and be in the more strategic position to counterbalance the executive branch, given that the executive is composed primarily of former senior military personnel. Respondents further expressed beliefs that only such relationships between the executive and legislative involving former senior military personnel would provide the necessary foundations for the local hluttaws to flourish as the second pillar of a democratic checks-and-balance system. Despite these common perceptions, however, the re-search found that the speakers of the Mon State Hluttaw and Sagaing Region Hluttaw, both of civilian background, maintained a mutually respectful relationship with those executive officials who were previously senior military members.

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OversightMost respondents from the studied local legislatures identified legislative oversight as

an important duty of hluttaws. Oversight maintains the hluttaws’ functionality. All respondents identified legislative oversight as the most important action in an efficient checks-and-balance system.

The study found that the oversight functions of local legislatures are weak. Few stud-ied hluttaws have committees actively engaged in legislative oversight practices. Those with active oversight committees include Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Re-gion Hluttaws. Committees are an important avenue through which local legislatures exercise oversight practices. The study found that hluttaws typically had three committees: The Legislation Committee, the Representative Vetting Committee, and the Ethnic Affairs Committee. The majori-ty of hluttaws, except for Kayin State, Rakhine State and Yangon Region Hluttaws, formed addi-tional committees to regulate oversight functions. The number of these additional committees, however, differed. The Mon State Hluttaw and Rakhine State Hluttaw had the fewest number of additional committees with two and the Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw had the most with ten. Based on the research conducting during this study, the initiatives of the committees in Mon State Hluttaw (see Box 4) best exemplify legislative oversight performed by local hluttaw committees.

Oversight initiatives made through motions and questions, regular functions of all stud-ied local legislatures, are accessible oversight performance options since they do not require extensive legal knowledge.. The data received from hluttaw offices show that the Ayeyarwaddy Region and Rakhine State Hluttaws submitted total 1,897 and 1,603 motions and questions re-spectively, and stood as hluttaws with highest number of motions and questions during the first five-year term.

Executive responses to these motions and questions varied greatly and the effective-ness of responses is vague. Motions and questions were officially recorded as government pledges when the concerned ministers or department heads gave hluttaws their official promise to act on the particular motion or question. Many, however, are simply recorded as ‘submitted’ motions and questions as opposed to official government pledges.

The parameters used to measure how effectively government pledges were fulfilled and implemented vary and were thus not comparable across studied hluttaws. This ren-dered it thus difficult to determine if the implementation and fulfillment of government pledges reflects legislative effectiveness. Once motions were recorded as government pledg-es, some hluttaws began monitoring how ministries or departments acted on these pledges. The hluttaws used different monitoring procedures, resulting in varying methods, parameters and indi-cators for accessing how pledges are implemented or fulfilled. The study found similar variances in the methodology used to trace the recorded number of complaints and the number resolved during the first five-year term.

Local legislative oversight efforts on state and region budgets and local government spending face several different challenges and constraints. With the exception of Ayeyar-waddy Region Hluttaw, studied hluttaws admitted that they were unable to review the budget within the allotted timeframe. These hluttaws had received the budget bill from the government within one to two days before the hluttaw’s official discussion to approve the bill, an inadequate time for critically reviewing the budget.

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Hluttaws have low levels of influence on amendments to budget bills, particularly with regards to cutting, adjusting, or removing requested amounts. There was limited space for individual members’ advice. In hluttaws where committees conducted budget reviews, such as in the Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw, the hluttaw had a higher chance of influencing sections of the bill. In contrary, when the bill was discussed directly in the hluttaw, one or two candidates would express support for the bill and request the hluttaw’s approval. Advice presented was neither ac-cepted nor accounted for. In only a few documented instances was advice presented during the hluttaw session accepted for the final bill.

Local legislative oversight efforts on government budget and spending and on public services and local development projects have faced many challenges. Challenges are mainly due to limited cooperation from government departments. The study found that Mon State Hluttaw faced the fewest challenges, Shan State Hluttaw remained in a deadlock and Yan-gon State Hluttaw kept most expenditure oversight activities classified. While the “Committee for Reviewing Implementation of Laws, Motions and Questions, and Local Development Projects, Rev-enue and Expenditure” of Mon State Hluttaw achieved some success, the Shan State Hluttaw has been facing with the deadlock to access regular and special expenditure records from relevant state-level departments. According to the committee, although they could easily place requests for the records, the centralized control of the state government hindered their ability to access the requested records.

Based on this research, many individual members had limited interest in and opportu-nities to study and question the yearly audit report during official hluttaw discussions. Respondents from the studied hluttaws said that the audit report was shared only on the day of, or one day prior to, the presentation in the hluttaw. The research found only a few instances where individual MPs were active in discussions on the audit reports in Yangon Region Hluttaw and Mon State Hluttaw. However, the MPs expressed that their advice and questions on the findings of the audit reports rarely received proper responses or clarification from the government or the state and region auditors.

Barriers to effective oversight practices through motions and questions include proce-dural constraints and ineffective coordination. While some motions and questions successful-ly became government pledges, implementation of some pledges was delayed due to unclear authority between Schedule (A) and Schedule (B) of the 2008 Constitution. Limited coordination between the Union and state and region departments also hindered the effective implementation of government pledges. The cases mentioned in page 41 reflect these findings.

Constituencies where MPs were dually appointed to executive positions are underrep-resented. Respondents from the studied hluttaws indicated that there has been less information and discussion provided in the hluttaws regarding the affairs of those constituencies represented by dually appointed MPs. This is largely because these MPs are unable to bring forward questions and motions related to their constituencies because of irregular hluttaw attendance.

The experience and interest of individual MPs affects their ability to represent the voic-es of their constituents through questions and motions. The testimonies of active members and the research data show that some elected MPs never submitted a question or motion during hluttaw sessions in the first five-year term. For instance, the available data show that 41 elected MPs in Shan State Hluttaw and 5 in Kayin State Hluttaw, almost half of total elected MPs in those hluttaws, never submitted motions or questions during the first five-year term.

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Public access and communicationThe study looked at both institutional mechanisms and individual channels of public outreach

and communication in local legislatures. In addition, the study also explored other channels or mediums of communication that improved public access to information from local legislatures. The study collected feedback from interviewed media members to assess the relationships between local legislatures and the media.

Currently, there are no effective communication and information exchange mechanisms in any of the studied hluttaws; however, most expressed a growing interest for electronic mediums of public communication, particularly social media and websites. All surveyed hlut-taw speakers and deputy speakers expressed an interest in developing websites for their hlut-taws to provide the public with regular information. At the time this study was conducted, howev-er, Mon State Hluttaw was the only hluttaw with an established website.

While hluttaw journals have been regularly published in all studied hluttaws except for Shan State Hluttaw and Yangon Region Hluttaw, the coverage of their distribution is primarily limited to MPs and government ministries. Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Re-gion were the only regions where local CSOs shared that they had received hluttaw journals. The speaker and active MPs of Mon State Hluttaw expressed that they have attempted to expand distri-bution of the journal to the ward and village tract administrators during the new term.

Financial limitations have affected the ability of hluttaws to publish and widely distrib-ute the laws approved each year. The Union of Myanmar National Gazette, issued weekly on the official website of the Ministry of Information, is arguably the only channel for up-to-date govern-ment information, such as approved laws, official declarations and contracts. However, CSOs and the media complained that the MOI’s website is not user-friendly and that it was difficult for them to effectively search the documents for the information needed. They suggested a separate web-page for the Myanmar National Gazette with efficient search functions.

The most common communication channel is direct engagement between MPs and the public. The leaders and MPs of studied hluttaws stated that the most effective means of receiving information from and communicating with the communities they represent is through in-person visits to their respective constituencies. Importantly, respondents expressed that personal office space in the hluttaws would improve public communication with constituencies. Some active mem-bers stated that the Constituency Development Fund and local development planning is a push factor for them to meet and consult with communities and other stakeholders involved in the man-agement and implementation of these projects. Some surveyed hluttaws, such as Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws were relatively open to the public for general visits, formal sessions or arranged visits for university students and local CSOs.

The media find that hluttaw attitudes towards the media have improved since mid- to late 2014; however, the level of friendliness and cooperation varies. Respondents from local media felt more welcomed by the Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw and Mon State Hluttaw, measured by increased invitation to hluttaw sessions and discussion. Media respondents complained, however, that relations with the Yangon Region Hluttaw remain unchanged. All media respondents stated that they have not been given the opportunity to interview the hluttaw speakers and that it has always been difficult to receive information.

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Institution building and individual capacity building

Given that local legislatures are in nascent stages of development as new institutions in Myanmar’s emerging democracy, building and strengthening individual and institutional capacity is a key concern. The study explored how hluttaws and their MPs have developed plans and ob-tained opportunities to strengthen capacity as well as identified the challenges and limitations in developing the needed skills, awareness and expertise.

While most speakers and MPs are eager to promote the role and power of local legisla-tures, the study found that the hluttaws have no concrete plans for institutional and indi-vidual capacity building. The most common factors identified by respondents that influence the effectiveness and functionality of the hluttaws are: the majority’s perception that the role and rank of local legislatures is subordinate to local executive authorities, the ability for legislative members to take dual positions in the cabinet and the limited political experience of legislative members.

The study found that there were no existing activities or initiatives for internal or exter-nal local legislative performance review. Speakers from most studied hluttaws, however, agreed that regular reviews on performance and effectiveness are important for strengthening local leg-islatures. One speakers suggested that the Myanmar Parliamentary Union (MPU) should play a role in establishing an effective evaluation mechanism.

The study found that there was a common misperception that the role of local legisla-tures is subordinate to executive authorities. Respondents stated that most people, even many elected MPs and administrative personnel, believe that the executive branch is superior to the legislative branch. Surveyed legislative members expressed that the ability for MPs in local legislatures to hold dual roles in the legislative and executive branches fostered this mispercep-tion. Because most individuals who take on dual roles are chief ministers and state and region ministers, many perceive that their executive role must be more important than their legislative role. Other respondents stated that cultural habits fostered the misperception that the executive side must be superior to the local legislative body since the executive is headed by chief ministers.

Surveyed speakers identified infrastructural and material developments as important achievements of institutional development during the first five-year term. The first important development project that promoted the role of the hluttaw was the construction of hluttaw build-ings in a separate location from the state and region government annex. It is important, according to hluttaw leaders and MPs, that hluttaws be separate from the state government offices in order to: 1) create a visible physical separation of the roles of local administration and legislatures; 2) al-leviate concerns regarding unwanted influence from the executive, particularly from chief minis-ters and GAD officials; 3) provide for the practical space needed by all departments, committees and MPs who remain in residence during hluttaw sessions. The speakers of those hluttaws with new buildings expressed that they felt they had fulfilled an important duty during office.

The budgets of the studied hluttaws do not include practical costs for important activ-ities, notably field observation for oversight activities, documentation and publication, in-formation sharing and distribution, and capacity building. Hluttaw speakers were quick to re-spond that the budgets were sufficient; however, they later expressed that insufficient funds inhibited their ability to fulfill important activities. The activities affected most by budget limitations are field monitoring for oversight practices, the publication of laws and records, and the mainte-

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nance of information sources. Most of the studied hluttaws stated that they have had to submit additional budget requests to develop new hluttaw infrastructure since the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Almost all respondents from surveyed hluttaws identified a need for capacity building for both elected MPs and office staff. Although the Union Government and the UNDP have provided some workshops and training, only a limited number of members from each state and region hluttaw could attend. Respondents named exchange visits between local legislatures as important support mechanisms that increase cooperation between hluttaws and the potentials for elected MPs to learn from one another. When asked which topics of concern they were most interested in improving their knowledge of, MPs identified legal and policy development, federal-ism and information technology as the most common topics. Lastly, the office staff of surveyed hluttaws expressed a desire for relevant training, as previous training has mainly targeted MPs.

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Administrative support from hluttaw offices

The study attempted to better understand the role of hluttaw offices and their functions and effectiveness. The study team conducted interviews with the head staff of hluttaw offices and analyzed feedback from hluttaw speakers and MPs regarding the effectiveness and limitations of the offices.

The administrative support offices of local legislatures are sub-departments of the General Administration Department (GAD), and the Ministry of Home Affairs appoints the key office staff. The heads of hluttaw offices are accountable to the Deputy Director General of the GAD, who serves as an executive secretary in each state and region government. In practice, however, office heads are also accountable to the speaker of the respective hluttaw, while they fondly expressed GAD as their mother department.

The study observed that the hluttaw support offices are well structured to attend to the key functions of hluttaws. The offices of each local legislature include two sub-departments (sub-departments 5 and 6) and four unit departments (UDs) under each sub-department. These UDs are UD 9- Hluttaw Meetings, UD 10- Committees, UD 11- Laws, UD 12- Motions and Questions, UD 13- Planning and Finance, UD 14- Admin and Finance, UD 15- Complaints and Appeals and UD 16- Library, Archive and Research.

The support and function of hluttaw offices improved after structural changes to hlut-taw offices took effect in mid-2014. Changes were manifested in two main actions: 1) the expan-sion of the number of unit departments from four to eight, and 2) the replacement of office heads who were supervised by deputy directors or assistant directors with director-level staff, which im-proved the overall power and effectiveness of staff. Those departments which were restructured are UD 10- Committees, UD 12- Motions and Questions, UD 13- Planning and Finance, UD 14- Admin and Finance, UD 15- Complaints and Appeals, and UD 16- Library, Archive and Research.

Respondents expressed concerns regarding the capacity of hluttaw office staff de-spite the sufficient number of staff. The most common concern shared by respondents was the frequent transfer of office staff from one place to another within the GAD system. For the hluttaw offices, this resulted in frequent turn-over and with the employment of several staff who lack the necessary political knowledge to carry out the duties of the position. Respondents stressed that they believe the work of the hluttaw support staff differs drastically from other GAD work. They say that GAD staff who work at hluttaw offices need to invest more time in understanding the impor-tance of the hluttaw.

Active MPs, local CSOs and the media expressed concerns over the lack of transparen-cy and limited access to information in surveyed hluttaw offices. Respondents stated that it took a long time to receive requested data and information from hluttaw offices. On many occa-sions, hluttaw office staff responded to requests stating that the requested data or information were not available for distribution. Local media and CSOs complained that most of the information they requested and received could not be shared with the public as these documents are marked as “Kant That,” which means “closed or not for public consumption.” Some active MPs pointed out that such restrictions on information are unconstitutional according to Chapter 4, Article 184, which allows for state and region activity records to be shared with the public.

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RecommendationsBased on all key findings, the study concludes that three main factors contribute to the per-

formance and effectiveness of local legislatures. These are:• (1) Structurallimitationsandbarriers;• (2)Limitedinstitutionalandhumancapacity;• (3)Personalattributesorleadershipabilities.Recommendations for each factor are provided in the following sections. These recommenda-

tions aim to promote the role and institutional development of local legislatures in ways that will foster decentralization. Recommendations reflect the needs and wants of surveyed key respondents

Structural limitations and barriers

The study identified structural limitations as the top factor undermining the role and effective-ness of local legislatures.

The ability for members to accept dual roles in the legislative and executive is identified by respondents as the most common structural issue. This significantly compromises the role and duty of local legislatures. As most MPs participated as respondents, the study recommends a thorough review on the system of dual roles allowed by the current constitution, which is appar-ently in contrary to the system applied in the Union Hluttaws.

The study reported that most leaders and MPs of studied hluttaws and CSOs recommend a system where the chief minister of a state or a region is elected by its legislature as opposed to the current system where the Union President appoints chief ministers. Respondents feel that such a system is an important contribution to a clear checks-and-balance system.

The study observed that the role and support of the constitutional tribunal is ambiguous and that the institution is currently too weak to resolve issues where the legislative mandate is not clearly defined by the Constitution and requires a case-by-case review from an authorized independent body. Other than referring legislatures to the president for advice, the constitutional tribunal has not been able to provide any strong advice as an independent body. Thus, this study recommends the development of a strong independent tribunal with sufficient technical capacity to provide necessary advice, feedback and decisions.

Based on information from key respondents in the studied hluttaws, this study recommends improvements on cooperation and coordination mechanisms between local administrations and legislatures. Leaders of local legislatures feel that the regular general administrative meet-ings organized by the state or region administrations are not sufficient to strengthen cooperation and coordination. Respondents suggested scheduling regular meetings to specifically focus on coordination and collaboration between committees of local legislatures and relevant government departments.

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Limited institutional and human capacityFeedback from respondents clearly reflects the limited institutional and individual capacity of

local legislatures.

The development of the national-level strategic plan for the institutional capacity build-ing of local legislatures should be a concerted effort between the Union Government and local legislatures, international and local CSOs and the designated bodies from all local legislatures. Based on the strategic plan, local legislature should develop individualized plans and approaches that meet their own priorities and needs. These capacity building plans should be financed by the Union and to some extent through international support.

Respondents identified a need for regular coordination and learning exchange plat-forms among local legislatures. They expressed that they learn from each other’s legislation and oversight practices but admitted that the sense of competition provided through such platforms encourages them to improve their work. Respondents also identified a desire to learn the best international practices and for further exposure to international institutions.

Leaders, active MPs and some local CSOs view regular performance reviews as import-ant channels through which to provide local legislatures with the feedback necessary to improve their effectiveness. Some suggested participatory review by CSOs, MPs and local lead-ers, while others suggested reviews initiated by an organization or designated body of technical individuals. The study recommends implementing a legal and institutional framework for assessing performance where progress will be shared with all stakeholders. Individual performance assess-ments should also be included in this mechanism.

Capacity building programs for parliamentary support offices must not be neglected. All

key respondents expressed a need for training dedicated to hluttaw support staff. Respondents view these staff members as essential to the transfer of skills and practices to new hluttaw MPs and staff. All key respondents expressed a need for training dedicated to hluttaw support staff.

The physical separation of hluttaw buildings from the state and region government annex is strongly recommended by the study. It is important, according to hluttaw leaders and MPs, that hluttaws be separated from the state government offices in order to 1) create a physical separation of the roles of the local legislature and administration; 2) alleviate concerns regarding unwanted influence from the executive, particularly from chief ministers and GADs; 3) adequately provide the needed space for committees and MPs in residence during hluttaw sessions.

Personal attributes or leadership capacity

Personal attributes, interpreted mainly as individual leadership and work abilities, as well as capacity of creating mutually respectful relationships with counterparts, influence the effective-ness of local legislatures. High levels of leadership and work abilities improve the effectiveness of the local legislatures and contribute to improving a system of checks and balances.

The leadership efforts and individual legislative and oversight efforts must be priori-tized and unbiased at all times. These efforts must not be compromised by partisan political interests or ethnic and nationalistic political interests. The study recommends constitutional sup-port that guarantees a space to recognize and address the efforts of members of any political

20


party, especially those from political parties underrepresented in the hluttaw.

The role and space for female MPs must be promoted. The speakers of local legislatures are in key positions to ensure that women have the opportunity for committee leadership posi-tions and encourage their leadership endeavors. More importantly, as recommended by an active female MP, the by-laws of the state and region hluttaws should guarantee opportunities for female legislative members.

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IntroductionThe 2010 general election introduced subnational governments in Myanmar in 2011. These

structures of governance are new institutions for Myanmar, an historically centralized country. Al-though local legislatures are important pillars of a federal state, insufficient attention has been paid to their current performance and the challenges they must overcome to strengthen as insti-tutions. To understand the progress of decentralization in Myanmar, it is necessary to provide policy-makers, key stakeholders and donors with reliable and updated reports on subnational gov-ernance. Until now, the 2013 The Asia Foundation and MDRI-CESD report, “State and Region Gov-ernments in Myanmar,” is the only available comprehensive baseline assessment of state and re-gion institutions in Myanmar.

Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF) conducted an exploratory assessment of three states and regions in early 2015; the study indicated the need for a further comparative study on the performance of state and region parliaments (hluttaws). Thus, the main purpose of this study was to conduct a more comprehensive evaluation of the local legislatures in order to recommend reliable evaluation mechanisms to help strengthen all local legislatures in Myanmar.

Objectives

The study aims to inform policy-makers, political actors, Myanmar CSOs, donors, and other stakeholders on how effectively state and region hluttaws, as key federal institutions, performed during their first term between 2010 and 2015 and how their performance contributed to the coun-try’s democratic transition. The three key objectives of the study are:

• Toprovidepolicyrecommendationsforstrengtheningfederalinstitutionsbasedonanem-pirical assessment of the performance of state and region hluttaws determined by tangible and intangible indicators of legislative functions

• Tosetupabaselinedatabaseanddatadashboardofparliamentaryperformance,whichwillcontribute to regular longitudinal assessments and sector-wide policy reviews necessary for structural and individual performance improvements in state and region hluttaws

• Tomaintainfindingsasapublicresourcethatcontributestoimprovingknowledge,dialogue,and policy making among and between all actors involved in Myanmar’s current transition.

Research Questions

The Performance Analysis on State and Region Hluttaws intends to answers the following key research questions:

1. How effectively did state and region hluttaws perform between 2010 and 2015? How did their performance vary?

2. What challenges, constraints, opportunities and future improvements influence the legis-lative performance necessary for these institutions to become strong federal institutions that contribute to democratic state building in Myanmar?

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Focus AreasAs a result of intensive desk review and consultation with key informants, EMReF’s study team

identified six focus areas in state and region hluttaw performance. Within each of these areas, EMReF identified both quantitative and qualitative performance indicators. Of the six focus areas, legislation and oversight are given the most attention as they serve as the primary functions of a legislature. The six focus areas are:

1. Legislation2. Oversight3. Public access and communication4. Inclusion5. Institution building and individual capacity building6. Administrative capacity

Performance Indicators

In each focus area, the study team defined key performance indicators and qualitative and quantitative sub-indicators. The key performance indicators are listed below, while all indicators, including sub-indicators, are listed in Annex B.

Table 1. Summary of key indicators per focus area

Key Focus Areas Key Performance Indicators

Legislation Legislative effectiveness and challenges

Oversight Oversight effectiveness and challenges

Effectiveness of budget oversight activities

Public Access and Communication Effectiveness of communication and public access to informa-tion, including information distribution

Inclusion Space for female representatives and members of parties with minority seats in the parliaments

Institution building and individual capacity building Institutional capacity building initiatives and plans for parlia-mentary bodies, individual members and administrative sup-port office and staff

Administrative capacity Effectiveness and efficiency of hluttaw administrative offices

Scope of ResearchThe study selected eight out of the fourteen total local hluttaws for in-depth analysis and

collected primary research data from all states and regions. The eight selected hluttaws are Mon State, Shan State, Kayin State, Rakhine State, Tanintharyi Region, Sagaing Region, Ayeyarwaddy Region and Yangon Region Hluttaws. EMReF selected these eight based on 1) selecting an equal number of samples from the administrative states and regions, 2) representing different parlia-ment sizes, and 3) accounting for variations of party representation (see Table 2 below for the specifications of samples and Annex A. for the populations of the studied hluttaws). Although the study explored the relationship dynamics between state and region executive and legislative branches, emphasis is given to legislatures.

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Table 2. Specifications of selected samples

State/Region Hluttaw Size Party representation State or Region

Kayin Small USDP Dominated in a multi-party environment

State

Mon Small USDP Dominated; Active participation by a party/parties with minor representation

State

Rakhine Medium Mixed representation in a multi-party environment

State

Shan Large Mixed representation State

Ayeyarwaddy Medium USDP Dominated Region

Sagaing Large USDP Dominated Region

Tanintharyi Small USDP Dominated Region

Yangon Large USDP Dominated; Active participation by a party/parties with minor representation

Region

States/Regions Number of parties seated in Hluttaw Total MPs Elected MPs Military MPs

Kayin 5 23 17 6

Mon 3 31 23 8

Rakhine 4 47 35 12

Shan 9 143 107 36

Ayeyarwaddy 3 72 54 18

Sagaing 3 101 76 25

Tanintharyi 2 28 21 7

Yangon 7 92 61 31

Table 3. Summary of populations and the number of parties represented in the studied hluttaws

Target RespondentsThe study also collected feedback from actors on the demand side, including civil societies,

local media and political parties with limited representation. The primary focus, however, remained on the supply-side, notably the institutional and legal arrangements, outputs and effectiveness, and the perceptions of individuals in crucial decision-making roles in local parliaments. The target actors or key informants are identified in Figure 1 below. The number of respondents covered by the study is summarized in Table 4.

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Figure 1. Mapping of key respondents covered by the study

HluttawLeaders/MPs/Committees

(44)

CSO (14)

Media (9)

Political Parties

(12)

Gov’t/Cabinet

members (9)

Hluttaw Office

Staff (9)

State/RegionHluttaw Leaders/

MPs

Hluttaw Office Staff

Ministers/Dep’t

OfficersCSOs Media Political

Parties Total

Kayin 7 1 0 4 1 2 15

Mon 6 1 2 1 2 2 14

Rakhine 2 1 1 2 0 1 7

Shan 3 1 1 1 1 1 8

Ayeyarwaddy 4 1 1 1 1 0 8

Sagaing 14 1 2 2 1 1 21

Tanintharyi 5 2 1 2 2 3 15

Yangon 3 1 1 1 1 2 9

Total 44 9 9 14 9 12 97

Table 4. Summary of key informants who participated in the study

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MethodologyThis study utilized two methods of qualitative primary data collection: in-depth interviews and

data collected from the hluttaw offices based on the defined performance indicators. The team also conducted a desk review of current legal institutions related to the local and Union legisla-tures and on local governance.

Limitations

The study attempted to measure the inclusiveness of local legislatures by looking at how mi-nority parties and female representatives created space to articulate their constituents’ needs in legislatures dominated by one major party. The qualitative indicators of inclusiveness that the study looked at included the perceptions minorities have on the treatment of their actions in hlut-taws. Additionally, quantifiable indicators include the number of bills, motions, and questions sub-mitted by representatives from minority parties and female representatives as baseline data. The study, however, was not able to include enough respondents from the target minority groups due to time limitations to make strong conclusions with regards to minority groups from the data. The study team also faced challenges in accessing quantitative indicators as these data had to be located from hard copy meeting minutes from 2010 until the time of the study.

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Key Findings

Legislation

Legislative outputs

The number of non-routine laws is an important visible and tangible output indicator of legislative effectiveness. According to the 2008 Constitution, certain laws prepared and submit-ted to local legislatures by state and region government administrations are considered routine laws. Routine laws include the Annual Budget Law, the Supplementary Budget Allocation Law,3 the Local Development Plan Law outlining local priorities, and the Tax Law. However, the Tax Law is a law that can only be submitted from the administrative side; it is not necessarily an annual legisla-tive requirement. Local legislatures (state and region hluttaws) are required as part of their routine legislative activities to review and pass these routine laws.

In addition to reviewing and passing routine laws, there are several other important legislative efforts that contribute to the effectiveness and performance of state and region hluttaws. The number of non-routine laws passed is another key indicator of performance. Most non-routine laws are prepared and passed in response to local policy needs in the respective geographic areas of each local parliament, determined by Schedule Two of the 2008 Constitution. Examples of non-rou-tine laws include the Fishery Law, the Law for Village Firewood Plantation, the Law for Fire and Natural Disaster Preventive Measures, the Law for Household Industry, and the Law for Systemat-ic Transportation of Water Vehicles.

During data collection, MPs from all the studied hluttaws expressed their opinions that non-rou-

tine laws are more important indicators of legislative output than routine laws. The Asia Founda-tion’s “State and Region Governments in Myanmar”4 suggests the same: “…perhaps better indica-tion of political decentralization and legislative autonomy would be to exclude the two ‘routine’ actions required of all states and regions: passing the budget law and the development plan.” Among studied hluttaws, Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region and Kachin State Hluttaws passed the most non-routine laws with 30, 29 and 27, or 62.5%, 64.4% and 63% of their individual total legislative outputs, respectively (see Table 5 and Figure 3 below).

3 In most states and regions, supplementary budget laws were prepared and submitted to state and region hluttaws to be approved as laws since the local governments required additional budget during the fiscal year. 4 Nixon, Joelene, Chit Saw, Lynn & Arnold. (2013). State and Region Governments in Myanmar

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Table 5: Summary of comparing the legislative outputs of local legislatures between 2010-2015

Region/State Routine Laws Non Routine Laws Laws Passed Total

Kachin 16 27 43

Kayah 15 9 24

Kayin 15 10 25

Chin 13 20 33

Sagaing 18 30 48

Tanintharyi 16 13 29

Bago 16 20 36

Magway 14 16 30

Mandalay 16 29 45

Mon 16 22 38

Rakhine 15 14 29

Yangon 15 10 25

Shan 16 12 28

Ayeyarwaddy 15 20 35

State or region hluttaws have yet to pass a law for the economic sector, one of eight sectors defined in Schedule Two of the 2008 Constitution5 (See Table 6 and Figure 2 below). The economic sector is the second major sector in Schedule Two. Within the economic sector, there are five sub-sectors: (1) economic matters undertaken in the region or state in accor-dance with the Union laws; (2) commercial matters undertaken in the region or state in accordance with Union laws; (3) co-operative matters undertaken in the region or state in accordance with Union laws; (4) hospitality business undertaken in the region or state in accordance with Union laws; and (5) tour business undertaken in the region or state in accordance with Union laws.

No state or region government has yet to pro-mulgate a law in any of the five economic sub-sec-tors. Active members of parliament and CSO leaders viewed the ambiguity of legislative power in Sched-ule Two as a major limitation to hluttaw performance. Despite the authority Schedule Two provides state and region hluttaws, Union laws severely limit local legislative authority. Following the economic sector, the fewest number of laws have been promulgated in the industrial sector. Among studied hluttaws, only two local hluttaws, Mon State Hluttaw and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw, have promulgated a law for the industrial sector.6

“The [economic] sector is mentioned, but just look at the way it is mentioned. All [hluttaws] are limited by the Union mandate. No one knows to what extent we are able to make laws for [the economic sector]”

Active members, Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw

5 In the current constitution, there are a total of eight sectors defined as major sectors under Schedule Two of the Legislative List of States and Regions. Within these eight sectors, there were first 41 sub-sectors prior to the approval of the Law Amending the Constitution and now there are 75 sub-sectors in total. 6 Among all states and regions, only four – Kachin State, Mon State, Ayeyarwaddy Region and Mandalay Region Hluttaws - have laws for small-scale domestic manual and machinery businesses.

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Sectors Kayin Mon Rakhine Shan Ayeyar Sagaing Tanintharyi Yangon

Finance and Planning

16 18 16 17 19 26 16 16

Economic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Agriculture and Livestock

1 3 2 4 5 4 1 1

Energy, Electricity, Mining and Forestry

1 4 2 1 4 5 2 1

Industrial 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

Transportation, Communication and Construction

2 3 2 1 2 4 3 2

Social 2 5 4 3 1 7 6 1

Management 3 4 3 2 3 2 1 4

Total 25 38 29 28 35 48 29 25

Table 6. Summary of laws promulgated in the eight major sectors

The number of laws amended and replaced is also an important indicator of performance as it reflects a hluttaw’s ability to respond to the needs and shortfalls of previously passed laws. These laws are considered non-routine laws. In all studied states and regions, concerned local government ministries and departments reviewed laws promulgated by state and region hluttaws during their first two years and amended or replaced original laws (see Figure 2 below). According to some local bill committee members, there was a strong need for amendments to or replacements of earlier laws as they were heavily influenced by former Union laws and insufficiently addressed local needs. For example, the Tanintharyi Region Fishery Law, which was first passed during the fourth session of the first hluttaw session in October 2012, reflected the Union Fishery Law. Thus, it was replaced and given a new title, the Tanintharyi Region Fresh Water and Nearshore Fishery Law.

Figure 2: Number of laws amended out of the total number of non-routine laws

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Total Non- routine Laws Total Laws Amended and Replaced

1

10

Kayin

Mon

Rackhine

ShanAyeyarw

addy

SagaingTa

ninthary

i

Yangon

3

1

22

14

1

0

12

25

5

275

2

1310

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The number of legislation committee meetings held by hluttaws is also an important indicator of legislative performance. The Legislation Committee was one of three committees formed by all state and region hluttaws within the first five-year term. According to respondents from the surveyed hluttaws, hluttaws formed these legislation committees to review and prepare bills.7 The committee is intended to be the main legislative body involved in drafting laws and re-viewing the bills submitted by the state or region government. The study found, however, that the legislation committees of some hluttaws, particularly Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw and Tanin-tharyi Region Hluttaw, were supported by groups comprised primarily of external resource special-ists. The Rakhine State Hluttaw could not be compared to the other hluttaws as they did not document the number of legislation committee meetings and these meetings were not open to other MPs.

Figure 3. Summary of the available number of legislation committee meetings across studied Hluttaws

7 Either the state and region hluttaw laws or the rules of specific state or region hluttaw laws provide official instruction for the formation of specific committees.

74

135

9

63

10

70

Another indicator used to evaluate the performance of hluttaws is the total number of sessions and the duration of each session. However, this does not directly correlate to the pro-ductivity of the respective hluttaw. The data show that all studied hluttaws conduct special and emergency sessions in addition to regular sessions. While EMReF did not collect data on the spe-cific reasons for special and emergency sessions, respondents shared that hluttaws typically called special and emergency sessions when faced with a scheduling issue that affected their ability to call hluttaw to session 21 days in advance, according to procedure.

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Legislative effectiveness and constraintsWhile the overall performances of local legislatures can be measured by the above mentioned

these tangible indicators, the effectiveness of these legislatures can also be measured by several intangible factors, including structural limitations, procedural constraints, limited institutional capacity and personal attributes.

Structural limitations

All studied hluttaws reported that the semi-parliamentary structure of local legislatures, which allows elected local legislative members to simultaneously take positions as executive members, limited their overall effectiveness. The current constitution permits dual positions in state and region hluttaws despite requiring elected Union legislative members to relinquish their legislative responsibilities if they accept an executive position. Surveyed hluttaw leaders and MPs prefer the policies used in the Union Government. Many also suggested holding local bi-elections to replace vacant legislative seats, as is practiced at the Union level. These hluttaw leaders and MPs believe that the capacity, role and authority of local legislatures has been diluted by allowing MPs to simultaneously hold executive and legislative positions.

In the smaller states and regions where a significant number of elected MPs were appoint-ed to cabinet positions as state or region ministers, notably Kayin State, Mon State and Tanin-tharyi Region, the dual role issue is a larger problem. Data collected during the study show that 64%, 65%, 55%, and 32% of elected MPs in Kayin State, Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Rakhine State Hluttaws, respectively, accepted dual positions. This has hindered the effective-ness of the hluttaw, given that only a few “ordi-nary members” have regularly attended and ac-tively participated in the hluttaw sessions. (see Table 8 and Figure 4). Among all 14 local hluttaws, Kayin State Hluttaw had the second highest per-

8 The data for the duration of hluttaw sessions are not available for Yangon Region Hluttaw

Number of Sessions Number of Days

States/Regions Regular Special Emergency Total Regular Special Emergency Total

Kayin 13 3 5 21 53 6 9 68

Mon 13 3 1 17 43 6 1 50

Rakhine 13 3 1 17 146 9 1 156

Shan 13 4 2 19 51 8 5 64

Ayeyarwaddy 14 6 1 21 126 16 1 143

Sagaing 14 9 1 24 69 23 1 93

Tanintharyi 14 4 0 18 43 7 0 50

Yangon 10 9 1 20 DNA DNA DNA DNA

Table 7. Summary of the sessions and their duration in the studied hluttaws8

“The problem started with the constitution. There is no bi-election to replace [members who took positions in the cabinet]. The way they participate in hluttaw is like someone asking himself if he has had lunch or not”Deputy Speaker, Kayin State Hluttaw

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centage of members in dual role positions. Of the 14 elected MPs in Kayin State Hluttaw, 9 hold dual executive positions. Of the remaining MPs who do not hold dual positions, only one remained active. Another passed away and the active participation of the others are inhibited by old age and poor health conditions. Kayin State Hluttaw leaders and MPs expressed that they had to struggle to prepare bills due to inadequate human resources.

Table 8. The number of elected MPs who took cabinet positions and the total original number of elected MPs

State/Region MPs taken Dual Role Total Elected MPs % of members taken dual role

Kayin 9 14 64%

Mon 13 20 65%

Rakhine 11 34 32%

Shan 17 96 18%

Ayeyarwaddy 11 52 21%

Sagaing 11 74 15%

Tanintharyi 11 20 55%

Yangon 10 90 11%

Total 93 400 23%

Yangon

Tanintharyi

Sagaing

Ayeyarwaddy

Shan

Rakhine

Mon

Kayin

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

10

11

11

11

17

11

13

9 14

20

34

96

52

74

20

90

MPs taken Dual Role Total Elected MPs

Figure 4. Summary of the MPs who took cabinet positions and the total original number of elected MPs

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The ambiguity of what is and is not permis-sible under Schedule One and Schedule Two of the Constitution9 discouraged legislative ef-forts and interests at the local level. Some ac-tive MPs and speakers suggested that clarity is needed in Schedule Two, while others suggested vesting residual power with the states and re-gions. The areas that, according to local legisla-tive members, lacked the most clarity were the economy, local development activities and taxa-tion. The ambiguity and confusion of legislative authority in the 2008 Constitution has hindered local legislative efforts. Some efforts have been bared as early as the law-making proposal stage while others remain pending. As a result of these structural constraints, local legislatures are reluc-tant to initiate new policies. The study gathered strong evidence for these clarity issues in hlut-taws from those active MPs included as respon-dents, notably Mon State, Yangon Region and Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw.

Articles 446 and 447 of the Constitution conflict with the legislative authority granted to

local legislatures in Article 188. Although the study recorded only one strong case in Mon State Hluttaw of a local legislative procedure being suspended as a result of being interpreted as in conflict with Articles 446 and 447 of the Constitution, several respondents from other local legis-latures reported this particular case as strong evidence of the existing conflict. Respondents ex-pressed that such an incidence highlights the ambiguity of official local legislative power. Thus, the study considers the experience from Mon State Hluttaw regarding a land taxation bill to be a sig-nificant finding.

Table 9. A Comparison of Articles 188, 446 and 447

“The legislative efforts are in vain due to confusion [between Schedule One and Two]. The bill for Shwe Ti Gon Pagoda Trusteeship Law could not be submitted as they said Shwe Ti Gon’s image is Union-level authority. Another effort for a bill for the provision of allowance to those teachers working in remote areas of Yangon was also treated as Union legislative power.”

An elected MP, Yangon Region Hluttaw

Article 188 Article 446 and Article 447

188. The region or state hluttaw shall have the right to enact laws for the entire or any part of the region or state related to matters prescribed in Schedule Two of Hluttaw Legislative List.

446. Existing laws shall remain in operation insofar as they are not contrary to this constitution or until and unless they are repealed or amended by the Pyidaungsu (Union) Hluttaw.

447. Existing rules, regulations, by-laws, notifications, orders, directives and procedures shall remain in operation insofar as they are not contrary to this constitution until and unless they are repealed or amended by the Union Government.

9 In the 2008 Constitution, Schedule One is “The Union Legislative List,” which describes the breadth of the power granted to the central government. Schedule Two is “The Region or State Legislative List,” which states the residual prerogatives granted to state and region governments

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Box 1. Mon State Land Tax Law: a pending law

The Mon State Hluttaw approved the Mon State Land Tax Law in December 2012. The law set the new land tax rates and required concerned departments to apply the new rate. The concerned departments did not comply and they continued to follow the existing Union laws. Even the official request from the Mon State Chief Minister was not successful in rendering compliance. The departments justified their actions on the basis that, according to Articles 446 and 447 of the 2008 Constitution, the Union laws shall prevail as long as they are not revoked by the appropriate Union-level institution.

However, Mon State Hluttaw and the State Administration argued that these Union level laws should not prevail as they are unconstitutional. The same articles state, “existing laws shall remain in operation in so far as they are not contrary to this constitution.” They proclaimed that “land tax” is well defined under the state legislative power in Schedule Two of the Constitution. The Mon State Hluttaw submitted the case to the Union Constitutional Tribunal to interpret the law while the bill was in discussion. While the law was approved by the state hluttaw, the tribunal suggested coordination with the president.

Thus, they submitted the letter to the president. The president’s response suggested that the policies of the new Mon State Land Tax Law shall be carried out only when all states and regions have passed land tax laws and the land registration process and issuance of Form 7 covers the whole country. Consequently, the Mon State Land Tax Law became a pending law, while the issue remained controversial among local legislative members. No other legislative efforts for land tax laws appeared in any other state or region hluttaw.

Limited institutional and human capacity The limited legal knowledge and experience of local legislative members in drafting laws

has been a significant constraint to hluttaw performance. MPs articulated that local admin-istrative departments faced similar challenges. The study found that only a few non-routine laws submitted by state and region ministries, notably municipal laws and fishery laws, were drafted by the relevant departments. The re-maining non-routine laws were drafted by hlut-taw legislation committees and turned over to the respective ministry to be officially submitted as a bill in the respective hluttaw.

The limited experience of local ministries and departments in drafting bills constrained and delayed the implementation of laws promulgated as rules and regulations. Most studied hluttaws confirmed that only about half of their approved administrative laws have relevant rules and regulations developed and submitted by the appropriate departments. Although it is not re-quired for laws to promulgate supporting rules and regulations, both local legislative and executive authorities generally perceive such rules and regulations to be necessary.

Some hluttaws have legal review or legislation review commissions but these played only

a minor role in most surveyed hluttaws. Of the six studied hluttaws that have such a commission, only three – Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw, Mon State Hluttaw and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw - reported that the commission worked closely with legislation committees in drafting laws through regular meetings. In two of the studied hluttaws, Yangon Region Hluttaw and Shan State Hluttaw, there were no external support groups assisting with legislation. Those commissions that do exist are chaired by hluttaw speakers or deputy speakers and consisted of external resource personnel, notably law professors, retired and practicing attorneys, legal and law enforcement officers, legal advocates, and retired policy chiefs.

“As we are in need of people with legal knowledge, we are happy to have any person or organization that wants to help. …Though we have a [Legal Review] Commission, we never get their support, and as far as I know, they never conduct reviews on laws”

An elected MP, Kayin State Hluttaw

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Personal attributesLeaders of local legislatures particularly the speakers, have significant influence on the

effectiveness of the hluttaws. The majority of surveyed MPs and key informants from CSOs, the media and political parties expressed that hluttaw performance depends on leaders’ ability to develop relationships with state and region chief ministers.

In only four out of the eight studied hluttaws were speakers with strong leadership abili-ties able to lead their hluttaws to an observable level of success. These hluttaws were the Mon State, Tanintharyi Region, Sagaing Region, and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws. This was appreci-ated by not only the MPs of the respective hluttaws but also local CSOs and the media. In these four hluttaws, there was an even split between hluttaw speakers of a civilian background and those of a military background. The speakers of the Mon State Hluttaw and Sagaing Region Hlut-taw are civilians while those of the Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw are former military personnel. Based on information from relevant respondents, the study deter-mined that legislative leadership is not as important in Yangon Region Hluttaw or Shan State Hluttaw and that there is no opinion regarding legislative leadership in Rakhine State Hluttaw.

Respondents articulated that the hluttaw speakers’ relationships with executive officials, particularly chief ministers, is a significant power relationship that influences hluttaw perfor-mance, particularly during political transition. The study found that speakers of the Mon State, Tanintharyi Region, Sagaing Region, and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws maintained mutually re-spectful relationships albeit to varying degrees.

In Mon State and Sagaing Region Hluttaws, civilian speakers maintained good relation-ships with the chief ministers who were formerly senior military personnel, which contributed to their success as leaders. This earned these leaders a good reputation among other hluttaws and stakeholders, such as CSOs, the media and local political opponents. Most respondents perceived that speakers from se-nior military backgrounds were most likely to be able to form upper-hand relationships or be in a good position to counterbalance the executive, given that the executive is predominantly led by former high profile military personnel. Respon-dents further expressed beliefs that only such relationships between the executive and legis-lative involving former senior military personnel would provide the necessary foundations for the local hluttaws to develop as the second pil-lar of a democratic checks-and-balance system. Despite these common perceptions, however, the study found that the speakers of the Mon State and Sagaing Region Hluttaws, both of ci-vilian background, maintain a mutually respect-ful relationship with the executive officials who were previously senior military members. When asked about the leadership characteristics that best foster diplomatic relations, respondents

“The motion for the bill for the evaluation on local development projects was not even allowed to be submitted as a motion as [the speaker] thought that it would make trouble for the region government.”

An elected MP, Yangon Region Hluttaw

“The motion I submitted for preparing the municipal bill was rejected, and the same motion submitted by the municipal department was passed through, though it came later”An elected MP, Yangon Region Hluttaw

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stated that previous experience, educational background, and, most importantly, the individual will for change are the key characteristics of a strong and successful leader. Such characteristics helped leaders succeed in leading their hluttaws to a measurable level of success, even in the challenging context of a democratic transition (Please see Annex C. for the occupational back-ground of hluttaw speakers and chief ministers and the relationships between legislative and ex-ecutive officials).

Contrary to Mon State and Sagaing Region, the study found that weak leadership in Yangon Region Hluttaw and Shan State Hluttaw constrained the efforts of active members, particularly with regards to their legislative oversight initiatives. Active members of these hlut-taws expressed that they faced challenges in their legislative efforts as hluttaw speakers control all initiations of legislation and oversight. They were required to informally discuss their plans for bill submissions and motions with the speakers instead of going through proper procedural steps for the submission of bills and motions from individual members. Officially, bills and motions are supposed to be sent directly to the administrative office of concerned hluttaws. The study found such constraints to be most prevalent in Yangon Region Hluttaw where active members often initiated legislation but almost all were taken in vain.

The active legislative and oversight efforts of individual MPs in Mon Sate Hluttaw and Yan-gon Region Hluttaw were considered outstanding cases that prove that strong individual ef-forts can influence local legislatures and show how individuals can effectively resist influence from executive officials. Regarding Mon State Hluttaw, elected member U Aung Naing Oo from the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP) received strong applause from his colleagues, including the speaker, MPs from other political parties, and other stakeholders from CSOs and the media for his legislative and oversight efforts (See Box 3 below for his detailed profile). In the case of the Yangon Region Hluttaw, CSOs and local media strongly appreciated the legislative and oversight efforts of one female MP, Daw Nyo Nyo Thin, the independent candidate, and two other MPs, U Kyaw from New National Democracy Party and Dr. Zaw Aye Maung from the Arakan National Party . Respon-dents referred to these individuals as “watch dogs” as they have resisted regional government actions during unfavorable situations posed by weak hluttaw leaders or the strong influence of the region’s GAD.

Box 2. Profile of Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin, the elected MP of Yangon Region Hluttaw (2010-2015)

Name: Nyo Nyo ThinEthnicity: BamarEducation: Doctor of Laws (Japan), LL.M (Japan), LL.M(YU), LL.B(YU), Diploma in Japanese (UFL), Diploma in French (UFL)Carrier: Board of Director of Yangon Watch (political and legal activist group); legal consultantConstituency: Bahan Constituency (2) Party: IndividualPolitical carrier: Elected MP of the first Yangon Region Hluttaw from 2010-2015. Contested in the same con-stituency in the 2015 general election but was not reelected.

Legislative efforts: Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin prepared and proposed numerous bills and by-laws, though most of them were not successful. Some of the well-known bills she proposed include: - The bill for the Shwedagon Pagoda Trustee Law, which was rejected by the Yangon Region Hluttaw with

the reason that the subject was not within the legislative authority of the states and regions. - The City of Yangon Development bill. She prepared and attempted to submit the bill in 2011, but was

unsuccessful. In 2013, Yangon Region Hluttaw submitted a similar bill, “Yangon City Development Committee

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Box 3. Profile of Dr. Aung Naing Oo, the elected MP of Mon State Hluttaw

Name: Aung Naing OoEthnicity: MonEducation: B.V.ScCarrier: Business owner (photo studio)Constituency: Chaung Sone (1)Party: All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP)Political carrier: Elected MP of both the first and second Mon State Hluttaw

Legislative efforts: Prepared and submitted three bills: 1. The Bill of Supervision on Mon State Play The-aters; 2. The Bill of Small and Medium Industries; 3. The Bill of Small and Medium Electric Power Industries. The first and second bills were passed into laws and the third one remained in discussion at the time of the study.

Oversight efforts: He initiated the reform that changed the Committee for Reviewing Enforcement and Implementation of Law, Motion, Questions to the Committee for Reviewing Enforcement and Implementa-tion of Law, Motion, Questions, and Local Development Projects, Government’s Budgetary Managements (revenues and spending). This reform enhanced the oversight authority of the hluttaw on the government’s actions and implementations. He was nominated as a chair for the committee by the hluttaw speaker. He voluntarily leads the review process of the government’s budget bill.

During his first term, he submitted over 40 motions and questions. He always initiates public consultations for bills and development projects.

Law,” and passed it into law. - The Tax Assessment bill. Although the bill was not successful, the concerned department of the Yangon

Region Hluttaw issued similar rules as official orders. - The Investigation on Development Plans/Projects bill, which was not successful because it did not have

the support of the Yangon Region Chief Minister and hluttaw speaker

Oversight efforts: Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin, who submitted over forty motions and about four hundred questions, stood out as the most outstanding legislative figure during U Thein Sein’s presidency. She was the most prominent watchdog and critic who pointed out the major pitfalls in those public spending and development projects that did not greatly benefit the public. She always took advice and feedback from the public and established herself as an approachable resource with the media and research institutions. This approach-ability greatly benefited the public as the Yangon Region Hluttaw has been a difficult hluttaw from which to obtain information. She was awarded several honorary awards, including the Women’s Rights and Politics Award, Lu Htu Shae Saung (People’s Leader) Award, Iron Rose in Hluttaw Award, One Lion Award, Rising Star Award and Tha Tinn Lu Thar (Media Resource Person) Award. She was also listed among the 100 most influential women of 2014.

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OversightMost respondents from the studied local legislatures identified legislative oversight as an

important duty of hluttaws. All respondents from studied local legislatures view legislative over-sight as the most important action of a checks-and-balance system.

The study identified four types of oversight actions practiced across all studied hluttaws. The level of effectiveness of these actions, however, varies among studied hluttaws. The four oversight actions are 1. oversight through committees; 2. submission of motions; 3. submission of questions; and 4. investigation of complaints and appeals submitted by the public. Respondents from Mon State Hluttaw and Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw stated that government departments were invited for occasional parliamentary hearings related to specific policies. The study cannot, however, measure or confirm the success of these hearings. Respondents of the respective hlut-taws did, nonetheless, appreciated such events as they allowed them to receive more information from government departments.

Oversight effectiveness and constraints

The study found that the oversight functions of the hluttaws’ oversight committees re-main weak. Only a few local legislatures have active and functioning oversight committees, nota-bly those in Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws. The respective committees are listed below.

Mon Tanintharyi Ayeyarwaddy

Committee for Reviewing Law, and Imple-mentation of Motions, Questions, Local Development, and Revenue and Expen-diture

Committee for Reviewing the Govern-ment’s Guarantees, Pledges and Accountability, and Complaints and Appeal

Legislation Review Committee

Committee for Reviewing Legal and Gen-eral Issues

The study found that hluttaws commonly had three committees: The Legislation Committee, the Representative Vetting Committee, and the Ethnic Affairs Committee. In addition to these committees, most hluttaws, except for Kayin State, Rakhine State and Yangon Region Hluttaws, formed several other committees to regulate oversight functions. The number of these additional committees, however, varied from two committees in Mon State Hluttaw and Rakhine State Hlut-taw to ten committees in Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw. The study identified the initiatives of the committees in the Mon State Hluttaw as the best example of the ability of committees to effective perform legislative oversight.

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Oversight initiatives made through motions and questions, regular functions of all studied local legislatures, are accessible oversight performance options. Making motions and questions do not require extensive legal knowledge. The data show that Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw and Rakhine State Hluttaw submitted the most motions and questions during the first five-year term.

Table 10. Summary of motions and questions submitted in studied Hluttaws

Box 4. Initiatives of the committees in Mon State Hluttaw

In Mon State Hluttaw, there were five total committees from 2010-2015. In addition to the three compulsory committees only two other committees were formed for oversight purposes. These two are the Committee for Reviewing Law and Implementation of Motions, Questions, Local Development, and Revenue and Ex-penditure and the Committee for Reviewing Legal and General Issues. Most of these committees include important external individuals, notably academics, legal experts, administrators, and CSO representatives. Seventeen such individuals were included in the committees.

The committees, especially the Legislation Committee, the Committee for Reviewing Law, and Implementa-tion of Motions, Questions, Local Development, and Revenue and Expenditure and Committee for Review-ing Legal and General Issues, carried out regular weekly meetings. These committees have held biweekly coordination meetings since 2015. In these meetings, committees present the progress of their reviews and findings and they discuss actions to be taken. Authorized personnel from concerned government de-partments are often invited for further information and discussion regarding coordinated solutions. Key respondents from the Mon State Hluttaw referred to these meetings as “hearings” and believed outcomes contribute to the performance of hluttaws; however, they also admitted that low levels of cooperation with executive officials and members’ limited experience present challenges.

Particular Kayin Mon Rakhine Shan Ayeyarwaddy Sagaing Tanintharyi Yangon

Motions 47 45 81 36 126 38 10 DNA

Questions 229 490 1522 655 1771 713 536 DNA

Total 276 535 1603 691 1897 751 546 DNA

Executive responses to these motions and questions varied greatly and the effectiveness of responses is vague. Motions and questions officially become recorded as government pledges when concerned ministers or department heads promise to act on specific motions and questions. Those not recorded as government pledges remain recorded as submitted motions and questions. Table 11 shows the number of motions and questions recorded as government pledges.10

The parameters used to measure how effectively government pledges were fulfilled and implemented vary, and are thus not comparable across studied hluttaws. This rendered it was difficult to determine if they reflected legislative effectiveness. Once motions were recorded as government pledges, some hluttaws began monitoring how concerned ministries or departments acted on these pledges. As a result of different monitoring procedures, the methods, parameters and indicators used to assess how pledges were fulfilled or implemented vary. Some hluttaws, Mon State Hluttaw in particular, have active monitoring teams that performed regular reviews and ground assessments on the implementation and fulfillment of pledges. According to the data collected, the majority of government pledges were successfully implemented (See Table 12). However, the study also concluded that since the credibility of these data varied and the data were not

10 The data include some motions that are not intended for government actions or accountability. For instance, some motions are made only for appraising or appreciating the actions or decisions of the local or Union governments.

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comparable across studied hluttaws, it was difficult to determine the extent to which they reflect-ed the actual effectiveness of local hluttaws. For instance, the data from Shan State Hluttaw, which showed a 100% implementation rate of those motions and questions recorded as official pledges, raised concerns and questions as to the effectiveness of such motions and actions.

Table 11. Summary of how many motions and questions become recorded as pledges

States/Regions Total Motions & Questions Total PledgesThe % of Motions/

Questions that became pledges

Kayin 266 27 10%

Mon 524 DNA DNA

Rakhine 1585 1349 85%

Shan 671 6 1%

Ayeyarwaddy 1819 1351 74%

Sagaing 751 426 57%

Tanintharyi 546 246 45%

Yangon DNA DNA DNA

States/Regions Total Pledges Implemented Implementing Remaining

Cancelled Pledges11

Implemented %

Kayin 27 5 0 22 0 19%

Mon DNA 35 DNA DNA DNA DNA

Rakhine 1349 647 391 311 0 48%

Shan 6 6 0 0 0 100

Ayeyarwaddy 1351 952 388 DNA 11 70%

Sagaing 426 373 40 0 13 88%

Tanintharyi 246 189 27 0 30 77%

Yangon DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA

11 Some states and regions hluttaws 2010-2015 cancelled pledges recorded during the first term (2010-2015) when the term ended. These cancelled pledges were then not brought up to the new hluttaw of 2016-2020

Table 12. Summary of questionable data that shows how pledges are responded to across hluttaws

The effectiveness of how complaints were resolved across studied hluttaws cannot be assessed by the recorded data. The study found similar variances in the methodology used to trace the recorded number of complaints and the number resolved during the first five-year term. (see Table 13). The data questionably showed that hluttaws with relatively better performance such as Mon State Hluttaw solved only 22% of complaints while ones with weak performance, such as Shan State Hluttaw, solved 100% of complaints.

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State/Region Complaints Received Complaints Solved % Solved

Kayin 141 41 29%

Mon 1661 370 22%

Rakhine 149 139 93%

Shan 201 201 100%

Ayeyarwaddy DNA DNA DNA

Sagaing 73 66 90%

Tanintharyi 777 TBC TBC

Yangon DNA DNA DNA

Table 13. Summary of questionable data that indicate the level of complaints solved

12 The Legislation Review Committee is comprised of hluttaw members and external resource individuals for drafting bills and reviewing approved bills and rules and regulations submitted by government departments for the hluttaw’s review and approval.

Box 5. Individual members’ influence on the Budget Bill in Mon State Hluttaw

Case-1: A request by the state government for fifty million kyats from the 2014-2015 Budget Bill to build two monasteries in Mon State was rejected after Dr. Aung Naing Oo, the MP from Chaung Sone Constituency -1, suggested that local development be a budget priority. As a result of his discussion, MPs voted to remove the requested budget line.

Case-2: During the discussion over the 2015-2016 Budget Bill, the government requested MMK 12,000,000 for the construction of official guest houses in the government residential compound. Dr. Aung Naing Oo, argued against the proposal saying that the large amount of money will benefit too few people and that it should in-stead be used for local development projects that will benefit more people and communities. At the time of the interview, respondents figured the possibility of the hluttaw adopting his advice was about 80%.

The local legislative oversight efforts on state and region budgets and the local govern-ment spending faces several different challenges and constraints. With the exception of Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw, studied hluttaws admitted that they were unable to review the budget within the allotted time frame. These hluttaws had received the budget bill from the gov-ernment within one two days before the hluttaw’s official discussion to approve the bill, an inade-quate time to critically review the budget

Prior to formal discussion during a hluttaw session, budget bills were sent directly to the hlut-taw offices with the exception of Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw. In Ayeyarwaddy Region, bills were first reviewed by the Legislation Review Committee12 within 7 to 10 days. During the review pro-cess, committee members prepared revisions to the budget and submitted it to the Legislation Committee for approval before discussion and approval at the hluttaw session.

The degree of influence hluttaws have to adjust the requested amounts in budget bills was significantly low. There was almost no room for individual members’ advice. In hluttaws where committees conducted budget reviews, such as Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaw, the hluttaw had a better chance of influencing the bill. In contrary, when the bill was discussed directly in the hluttaw, one or two candidates would express support for the bill and request the hluttaw’s ap-proval. Advice presented was not accepted and accounted for. In only a few documented instanc-es was advice presented during the hluttaw session accepted for the final bill. Examples from Mon State Hluttaw highlight such successful cases.

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Based on this research, individual members had limited interest in and opportunities to study and question the yearly audit report during official hluttaw discussions. Respondents expressed that they had been given little time to study the audit report as it was shared on the day of or one day prior to the official presentation in the hluttaw. The study recorded only a few instances in both Yangon Region Hluttaw and Mon State Hluttaw of active discussion of the audit report. They expressed that their questions and advice on the findings of the report rarely re-ceived proper responses and clarification from the government and the state or region auditors.

Barriers to effective oversight practic-es through motions and questions include procedural constraints and ineffective co-ordination. While some motions and ques-tions successfully became government pledges, the implementation of some pledg-es was delayed due to unclear authority be-tween Schedule (A) and Schedule (B) of the 2008 Constitution and limited coordination between Union and state departments. Some of the mentioned cases below reflect these study findings.

The constituencies where elected MPs have accepted dual roles are underrepre-sented. Respondents stated that there has been limited discussion on those constitu-encies represented by MPs in dual positions as those MPs are unable to bring forward questions and motions related to their con-stituencies in hluttaw.

Legislative oversight efforts on government budget and spending and on public services and local development projects have faced several challenges. These challenges are mainly due to limited cooperation from government departments. According to the study, Mon State Hluttaw faced the fewest challenges, Shan State Hluttaw remained in a deadlock, and the expen-diture oversight activities of Yangon State Hluttaw remain classified. The deadlock in the Shan State Hluttaw is the result of the inability of the “Committee for Reviewing Implementation of Laws, Motions and Questions, and Local Development Projects, Revenue and Expenditure” to access regular and special expenditure records from the State Revenue and Expenditure Departments. According to the committee, although they were able to easily place requests for the records, the centralized control of the state government hindered their ability to access the requested records. (see the quote box).

Box 6. Constraints on Government Pledges

Case-1: The motion requesting to establish a State Reserve Fund in Mon State was in vain after the state government seemed hesitate to approve it despite agreeing on its purpose and benefits.

Case-2: The plan that came from the motion proposing the construction of a connecting road to the famous Kyaik Teo (the Golden Rock) Pagoda from the express road, avoiding Kyaik Hto town and thus improving traffic flow, has not yet been implemented as the concerned state department was still waiting for a reply from the respective Union ministry.

“The government does not share its activities and expenditures and the State Ministry for Border Area Develop-ment does the same thing. So, we directly sent a request to the con-cerned state departments, as allowed by Article 64 of the Rules of State Legislature. Then we received a letter from the Chief Minister asking to make our request through his office. This is an act of centralized control. We still have not received a response though we requested directly through him. I finally gave up”Speaker, Shan State Hluttaw

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The experience and interest of individ-ual candidates affects their ability to effectively represent their constituents through questions and motions. The testi-monies of active MPs and the data collected indicate that some MPs never submitted any questions or motions during hluttaw sessions. For instance, 41 elected MPs in Shan State Hluttaw and 5 in Kayin State Hluttaw, almost half of the total elected MPs in those hluttaws, have never submitted motions or questions throughout their five-year term. Active MPs expressed that limit-ed experience and low levels of interest con-tributed to the reluctance of these MPs to participate through submitting motions and questions. The data from Kayin State, Mon State, Shan State and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws show that no military representa-tives, except for one in Kayin State, have ever submitted a question or motion in their respective hluttaw.

“We don’t hear voices reflecting the needs of people whose elected representatives joined the state cabinet. For instance, we have fewer voices from Kyun Su and Pu Law townships”Deputy Speaker, Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw

“During the discussion over the 2012-2013 audit report, I pointed out that the road reported for repair during last year was not repaired. I discovered this by going to the road. The response to the question was that the road was quickly damaged after repair due to heavy rain”An elected MP, Yangon Region Hluttaw

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Public Access and CommunicationThe study looked at both institutional and individual channels of public outreach and commu-

nication in local legislatures. In addition, it also explored other mediums of communication that improved public access to information from and communication with local legislatures. The study also gathered feedback from local media to assess the relationships between local legislatures and the media.

At the time of research, none of the studied hluttaws had established effective communi-cation and information mechanisms despite a growing interest in electronic communication avenues, particularly social media and websites. While all hluttaw speakers and deputy speakers expressed an interest in developing a hluttaw website to provide the public with regular informa-tion, Mon State Hluttaw is the only hluttaw that already has an established website (see Table 14 below and Annex B). Most hluttaws, however, said they were not very familiar with using email and fax remains the only official means of communication within the government. Most of the inter-viewed MPs shared that they used Facebook to inform the public of activities and receive updated information.

Table 14. Summary table of the available means of information distribution and public communication in local legislatures

State/Region Facebook Website Hluttaw Journal /Newsletter

Kayin Yes No Yes

Mon Yes Yes Yes

Rakhine No No Yes

Shan No No No

Ayeyarwaddy No No Yes

Sagaing No No Yes

Tanintharyi Yes No Yes

Yangon No No No

While a hluttaw journal has been regularly published in all studied hluttaws except for Shan State Hluttaw and Yangon Region Hluttaw, the distribution and coverage of these jour-nals is primarily limited to MPs and government ministries. Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Region were the only regions were local CSOs received hluttaw journals. The speaker and active MPs of Mon State Hluttaw expressed that they have been trying to expand distribution to the ward and village tract administrators during the new term. Shan State Hluttaw is the only local hluttaw that has not published regular journals and the journal published by Yangon Region Hluttaw is only for internal circulation (see Annex F). While the schedules for publication and distribution vary, most newsletters or journals were published at the time when the hluttaw was in session.

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State/Region Type of Publication Issues Copies Distributed

Kayin News letter 13 2470

Mon News letter 6 1200

Rakhine Journal DNA DNA

Shan None N/A N/A

Ayeyarwaddy News letter 75 DNA

Sagaing News letter 19 127300

Tanintharyi News letter 10 39105

Journal 125 2022

Yangon News letter DNA DNA

Table 15. Summary of hluttaw journal and newspaper publication

The Union of Myanmar National Gazette, posted weekly on the official website of the Min-istry of Information, was arguably the only source with available up-to-date information on approved laws, official declarations and contracts. However, CSOs and the media articulated that the MOI website is not user-friendly and searching for the needed information is difficult. They suggested a separate webpage for the Myanmar Gazette with an efficient search function.

Financial limitations affected the ability of hluttaws to publish and widely distribute the laws approved each year. This is particularly true for Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws. Mon State Hluttaw regularly prints hluttaw documents with the motions, questions and bills discussed during sessions. However, Mon State Hluttaw department officers stated that the printing process takes approximately two months following the session and that only limited copies can be made for official record and distribution to the Union Govern-ment and government departments.

The most common communication channel is direct engagement between members of parliament and the public. The leaders and MPs of studied hluttaws stated that the most effec-tive means of receiving information from and communicating with the communities they represent is through in-person visits to their respective constituencies. Respondents expressed that official office space in hluttaws would facilitate public communication with constituents. Some active MPs stated that the Constituency Development Fund and local development planning pushes them to meet and consult with the communities and stakeholders involved the project management and implementation.

Some surveyed hluttaws, such as Mon State, Tanintharyi Region and Ayeyarwaddy Region Hluttaws are relatively open to the public for general visits, formal sessions, or arranged visits for university students. Only some hluttaws had recorded visitor data in their guest registra-tion books (See Table 16). Respondents stated that they only began to see improvements in the openness of hluttaws starting in mid-2014.

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State/Region Number of people who visited Hluttaws (2010-2015)

Mon 146

Sagaing 117

Tanintharyi 107

Table 16. Summary of the number of guest visits as recorded in available visitor registration books

The media find that hluttaw attitudes towards the media have improved since mid- to late 2014; however, the level of friendliness and cooperation varies. Respondents from local media felt more welcomed by the Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw and Mon State Hluttaw, measured by in-creased invitation to hluttaw sessions and discussion. Media respondents complained, however, that relations with the Yangon Region Hluttaw remain unchanged. All media respondents stated that they have not been given the opportunity to interview the hluttaw speakers and that it has always difficult to receive information.

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As local legislatures are nascent institutions in Myanmar’s political transition process and strengthening their institutional and individual capacity is important, this study explored how studied hluttaws and their members identified their challenges and limitations, developed plans, and obtained opportunities to improve their skills and expertise.

While most speakers and MPs were eager to promote the role of local legislatures in Myan-mar, the study identified no concrete plans for institutional and individual capacity building among local legislatures. Most respondents identified common factors that influence the effec-tiveness of hluttaws. These factors include: 1) the perception that local legislatures are subordi-nate to local executive authorities; 2) the ability for legislative members to take dual positions; and 3) the limited experience of legislative members. Although some of these issues were discussed in the other sections of this report, they are discussed in detail in the following sections.

The study found that local legislatures had no existing activities or initiatives for internal or external performance review. Speakers from most of the studied hluttaws, however, noted that such reviews are crucial to improving the performance of local legislatures. One of the speak-ers suggested that the Myanmar Parliamentary Union (MPU) should play a role in establishing an effective evaluation mechanism.

The study found that there was a common misperception of legislative authority that un-dermined the role of local legislatures in favor of executive superiority. Respondents stated that most people, even some elected MPs and administrative personnel, believe that the execu-tive branch is superior to the legislative. Surveyed legislative members expressed that allowing MPs to hold dual roles in the legislative and executive branches was one attribute that fostered this misperception. Many also perceived that since it was mostly chief ministers and state and region ministers who take on dual roles, their executive role must be more important. Other re-spondents stated that cultural habits fostered the misperception that the executive side must be superior to the local legislative as the executive is headed by chief ministers. These mispercep-tions need to be addressed to promote the role of local legislatures as institutions that are parallel in importance to executive institutions.

Surveyed speakers identified infrastructural and material developments as important achievements of institutional development during their term in office. The first important devel-opment project that promoted the role of the hluttaw was the construction of hluttaw buildings in separate locations from the state and region government annex (See Table 17). It is important, ac-cording to hluttaw leaders and MPs, that hluttaws be separate from the state government offices in order to: 1) physically separate local administration and legislatures to create a visible separation of their roles; 2) alleviate concerns regarding unwarranted influence from the executive, particular-ly from chief ministers and GADs; and 3) provide for the practical space needs of all departments, committees and MPs in residence during hluttaw sessions. Speakers of those hluttaws with new buildings expressed that they felt they had fulfilled an important duty during their term of office.

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State/RegionHluttaws currently located in a

separate location from State/Region Administration

Remarks

Kayin √Newly built, Good locationand visibility; easily accessible to the public.

Mon √ Newly built; Good location and visibility; easily accessible to the public.

Rakhine √ Newly built; Far away from the town center; not visible to the public.

Shan X

Located in the same annex with State Administration; Although location provides for easy accessibility, the public cannot easily identify the location.

Ayeyarwaddy X

Located in the same annex with State Administration; Although it is located in the town center, it appears less accessible to the public compared to the situation of Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw.t

Sagaing √ Newly built; Good location and visibility; easily accessible to the public.

Tanintharyi XLocated in the same annex with State Administration; Good location and visibil-ity; easily accessible to the public.

Yangon XLocated in the same annex with State Administration; Good location but only fair public accessibility.

Table 17. Summary of local legislatures’ infrastructure quality

The budgets of the studied hluttaws do not include practical costs for important activi-ties, notably field observation for oversight activities, documentation and publication, informa-tion sharing and distribution, and capacity building. Speakers, however, expressed that the cur-rent budgets were well-managed and they were also allowed to make additional requests if needed. However, speakers were quick to respond that the budgets were sufficient but later ex-pressed that insufficient funds inhibited their ability to fulfill important activities. The activities af-fected most by budget limitations are field monitoring for oversight practices, the publication of laws and records, and the maintenance of information sources. Most of the studied hluttaws stat-ed that they have had to submit additional budget requests to develop new hluttaw infrastructure since the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Spending in the studied hluttaws increased significantly from the 2013-2014 fiscal year to the 2015-2016 fiscal year (see Figure 5 below and Annex D). Spending increased primarily in regu-lar expenditure. Increases in capital expenditures appear only in the years with construction. Based on the available data, the Rakhine State Hluttaw had the highest increase in both regular and capital expenditure budgets during all years. The leaders of Rakhine State Hluttaw confirmed that they requested the amounts as necessary.

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Figure 5. Summary of budgets in studied Hluttaws from 2013-2014 to 2015-2016 (in Million Kyats)

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

2014

-20

15

2014

-20

15

2014

-20

15

2015

-20

16

2015

-20

16

2015

-20

16

2013

-20

14

2013

-20

14

2013

-20

14

0

Total Expenditure

Kayin

Mon

Rakhine

Shan

Ayeyarwaddy

Tanintharyi

Regular Expenditure Capital Expenditure

Almost all respondents from surveyed hluttaws identified the need for capacity building for both elected MPs and hluttaw office staff. Although the Union Government and UNDP have provided some workshops and training, limited spots were given for individuals from each hluttaw. Respondents also stated that exchange visits between local legislatures were important support mechanisms that increased the cooperation among hluttaws and allowed newly elected politi-cians to learn from one another. When asked which topics they were most interested in receiving training on, MPs commonly favored legal and policy development, federalism and information tech-nology. Hluttaw office personnel also expect to receive relevant training as previous initiatives have primarily catered to MPs. Only a few hluttaw office staff have received administrative support training from the government. The two most common trainings identified for staff officers were the management training for mid-level staff and the basic management trainings provided by the In-stitute for Development of Administration (IDA).

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Administrative support from hluttaw offices

In order to better understand the role of hluttaw offices and their capacity and effectiveness, EMReF also conducted interviews with the hluttaw office heads and gathered feedback from hlut-taw speakers and MPs regarding the effectiveness and limitations of offices.

The administrative support offices of local legislatures are sub-departments of the Gener-al Administration Department (GAD). The appointment of key office staff is handled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The heads of hluttaw offices are required to be accountable to the Dep-uty Director General of GAD, who serves as an Executive Secretary in each state and region gov-ernment (See Figure 6 below). However, in practice they are also accountable to the speaker of the respective hluttaw.

The study observed that hluttaw support offices are well structured to attend to the key functions of hluttaws. Offices of every local legislature include two sub-departments, sub-depart-ment 5 and 6, and four unit departments (UDs) under each sub-department. Important UDs are UD 9- Hluttaw Meetings, UD 10- Committees, UD 11- Laws, UD 12- Motions and Questions, UD 13- Plan-ning and Finance, UD 14- Admin and Finance, UD 15- Complaints and Appeals, and UD 16- Library, Archive and Research (See Figure 6 below).

Figure 6. The position of state and region hluttaw offices in the structure of state and region general administration departments

Executive Secretary/ Deputy Director General

General Administrator

Office

Sub Dept.1 Sub Dept.3 Sub Dept.5Sub Dept.2 Sub Dept.4 Sub Dept.6

Government Office Hluttaw Office

Unit D

ept.1: General

Unit D

ept.2: Adm

in/ C

omm

ission

Unit D

ept.6: Adm

in/S

ecurity/Finance

Unit D

ept.15: Com

plaints & Appeals

Unit D

ept.16: Library, Archive & R

esearch

Unit D

ept.14: Adm

in & Finance

Unit D

ept.13: Planning & Finance

Unit D

ept.12: Motions and Q

uestions

Unit D

ept.11: Laws

Unit D

ept.10: Com

mittees

Unit D

ept.9: Hluttaw

Meetings

Unit D

ept.8: Social

Unit D

ept.7: Business

Unit D

ept.5: Policy/Law

Unit D

ept.4: Finance

Unit D

ept.3: Gov't S

upport

50


Respondents testified that the support and function of hluttaw offices improved after structural changes to hluttaw offices in mid-2014. Changes are manifested in two main actions: 1) the expansion of departments from four to eight, and 2) upgrades in office management capac-ity through which office heads, who were previously supervised by deputy directors or assistant directors, were replaced with director-level staff. The restructured departments are UD 10- Commit-tees, UD 12- Motions and Questions, UD 13- Planning and Finance, UD 14- Admin and Finance, UD 15- Complaints and Appeals, and UD 16- Library, Archive and Research.

Respondents expressed concerns over the capacity of hluttaw office staff despite sufficient number of staff (See Table 18). The most common concern re-spondents shared was the frequent trans-fer of office staff from one place to another within the GAD system. This resulted in frequent turn-over and left local legisla-tures with staff unfamiliar with hluttaw pro-cedures and without the necessary political knowledge for the position. Respondents view the nature of hluttaw support staff work as significantly different from general GAD work. They state that those GAD staff who work at hluttaw offices need to invest more time in understanding the impor-tance of the hluttaw and that their behav-ior must change to accommodate the essence of hluttaw procedures. Another important concern expressed among office heads expressed was the staff’s limited computer skills of staff and the time required to complete manual tasks. This negatively affects the efficien-cy of the hluttaw.

Table 18. Summary of the quantitative strengths of state and region hluttaws administrative and support offices

“They (hluttaw office staff) need to take time to learn about hluttaws, particular-ly their importance. The nature of GAD work and hluttaw office work are different… [staff] need to change and be trained to become more familiar with hluttaws and their essence. ...We always prefer a separate office struc-ture and staff from GAD, like what the Union hluttaws now practice”

Deputy Speaker, Tanintharyi Region Hluttaw

State/ Region

Total of All UnitsUnit

Dep’t 9Unit

Dep’t 10Unit

Dep’t 11Unit

Dep’t 12Unit

Dep’t 13Unit

Dep’t 14Unit

Dep’t 15

Unit Dep’t

16

Male Female Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total

Kayin 17 32 49 4 4 5 5 11 5 5 5

Mon 13 31 44 5 2 5 2 5 4 4 3

Rakhine 25 21 46 5 5 4 4 9 5 4 2

Shan 15 33 48 4 5 4 5 10 5 3 4

Ayeyarwaddy 24 23 47 5 3 5 5 10 4 5 5

Sagaing 16 22 38 3 4 3 4 8 5 3 5

Tanintharyi 17 30 47 5 4 3 4 10 5 5 3

Yangon DNA 13 DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA

13 DNA: Data Not Available

51


Active MPs, local CSOs and the media expressed concerns over the lack of transparency and limited access to information in surveyed hluttaw offices. Respondents stated that it took a long time to receive requested data and information from hluttaw offices. On many occasions, hluttaw office staff responded to requests stating that the requested data or information were not available for sharing. Local media and CSOs complained that most of the information they requested could not be shared to the public as these documents were marked as “Kant That,” which means “closed or not for public consumption.” Some MPs pointed out that such restrictions on information are unconstitutional as per Chapter 4, Article 184, which permits state and region activity records to be shared with the public.

Chapter 4, Article 184, the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (2008).

The proceedings and the records of the region and state hluttaws shall be published. However, the proceedings and the records prohibited by any law or the resolution of the region or state hluttaw shall not be published.

52


Conclusion and RecommendationsBased on all key findings, the study concludes that there are three main factors influencing

the performance and effectiveness of local legislatures. These three main factors are:• Structurallimitationsandbarriers;• Limitedinstitutionalandhumancapacity;• Personalattributesorleadershipcapacity.Recommendations for each factor are provided in the following sections. These recommendations

aim to promote the role and institutional development of local legislatures in ways that will foster de-centralization. Recommendations reflect the needs and wants of surveyed key respondents.

Structural limitations and barriers

Undeniably, the study identifies structural limitations as the top factor undermining the role and effectiveness of local legislatures.

The ability for members to accept dual roles in the legislative and executive was identified by respondents as the most common structural issue. This significantly compromises the role and duty of local legislatures. As most MPs in studied hluttaws participated as respondents in the study, the study recommends a thorough review of the policy that constitutionally allows local MPs to accept dual roles.

Most leaders and MPs of studied hluttaws and CSOs recommended a system by which the chief minister of a state or a region is elected by its legislature as opposed to the current system where the Union President appoints the chief ministers. They expressed that such a system provides the proper level of authority and is thus an important contribution to a clear checks-and-balance system.

The study observed that the role and support of the constitutional tribunal is not clear and that the institution is not strong enough to provide accurate answers to issues where the legislative mandate is not clearly defined in the 2008 Constitution and requires a case-by-case review from an independent authorized body. Select case studies prove that the constitutional tribunal has not been able to provide any strong advice as an independent body other than rec-ommendation to the legislatures to approach the president for advice. Thus, this study recom-mends the development of a strong independent tribunal with sufficient technical capacity to provide the necessary advice, feedback and decisions.

Based on information from key respondents in studied hluttaws, this study recommends the implementation of an effective mechanism to increase the cooperation and coordination between local administrations and legislatures. Leaders of local legislatures admitted that the regular general administrative meetings organized by the state or region administration are not sufficient to improve cooperation and coordination. Respondents suggested scheduling regular meetings specifically to improve coordination and information exchange.

Limited institutional and human capacityThe study obtained evidence and feedback from respondents that identifies limited institu-

tional and individual capacity as a major barrier to hluttaw effectiveness.

53


The development of the national-level strategic plan for institutional capacity building of local legislatures should be a concerted effort between the Union Government, the legislatures, international and local CSOs and the designated bodies from all local legislatures. Based on the strategic plan, local legislature should develop individual specific plans and approaches that meet their own prioritized needs. The budget for the capacity building plans should be provided by the Union and to some extent through international support.

Respondents commonly identified a need for regular coordination and learning platforms among local legislatures. They shared that they learn from each other’s legislation and oversight practices but admitted that a sense of competition encourages them to improve their work. Re-spondents also identified a desire to learn international best practices and for increased exposure to international institutions.

Leaders, active MPs and some local CSOs viewed regular performance reviews as important mechanisms to improve the effectiveness of local legislatures. Some suggested participatory re-view by CSOs, MPs and local leaders, while others suggested an effective review mechanism initiated by an organization or designated body of technical individuals. The study recommends implementing a legal and institutional framework for performance assessment through which progress is also shared with stakeholders. Individual performance monitoring should also be included.

Capacity building programs for parliamentary support offices must not be neglected and

staff members must not be rotated. Respondents commonly expressed that training for support staff was important to improve the effectiveness of hluttaws. They also shared opinions that staff should not be continuously transferred as these staff members are vital in the transfer of skills and practices to new hluttaw members.

The study also strongly recommends the separation of hluttaw buildings from the state and region government annexes. It is important, according to hluttaw leaders and MPs, that hlut-taws be separate from the state government offices in order to: 1) physically separate local admin-istration and legislatures to create a visible separation of their roles; 2) alleviate concerns regard-ing unwanted influence from the executive, particularly from chief ministers and GADs; 3) provide for the practical space needs of all departments, offices for committees and to accommodate MPs who stay during hluttaw sessions.

Personal attributes or leadership skillsSome key findings of the study suggest that strong personal attributes, mainly individual lead-

ership skills, improve the effectiveness of local legislatures and help institutionalize an effective checks-and-balance system.

Leadership efforts and individual legislative and oversight efforts must always be unbi-ased and prioritized. These must not be compromised by partisan political interests or ethnic and nationalistic political interests. The study recommends constitutional support that guarantees a space to recognize and address the efforts of members of any political party, especially those from political parties with underrepresented in the hluttaw.

The role and space for female MPs must be promoted. The speakers of local legislatures are in key positions to ensure that women have the opportunity for committee leadership positions and encourage their leadership endeavors. More importantly, as recommended by an active female MP, the by-laws of the state and region hluttaws should guarantee opportunities for female legislative members.

54


kayi

n23

176

07

2

2

4

1

1

Mon

3123

80

14

2

7

Rak

hine

4735

121

15

1

18

1

Sha

n14

310

736

954

1

31

4

63

31

22

Aye

yarw

addy

7254

183

471

6

Sag

aing

101

7625

067

8

1

Tani

ntha

ryi

2821

70

20

1

Yang

on12

392

316

75

84

12

1

1

Tota

l56

842

514

319

299

127

41

231

34

919

41

11

63

31

23

Sta

tes/

Reg

ions

Total Members

Elected

Active Military

Female

USDP

NLD

NUP

NDF

88 GSY

DPM

SNDP

KPP

TNP

AMRDP

RNDP

PSDP

CPP

KSDDP

NDPD

PNO

WDP

INDP

LNDP

KNP

Independent

Ann

ex A

.S

umm

ary

tabl

e of

the

pop

ulat

ions

of s

tudi

ed h

lutt

aws

55


Annex B. Summary table of key indicators and tangible and intangible sub-indicators

Key Focus Areas Key Indicators Quantitative Sub-indicators (Tangible Indicators)

Qualitative Sub-indicators (Intangible Indicators)

Legislation Legislative Effectiveness and Challenges

Legislative outputs (Routine laws vs non-routine laws)

Effectiveness of legislation (law making)

Number of hluttaw sessions and days

Challenges and barriers of legislation

Number of legislative committee meetings

Effectiveness of legislative committees

Number of amended laws and replaced laws

Challenges and barriers to the legislative committees

Number of bills submitted by individual members

Oversight Oversight Effectiveness and Challenges

Number of oversight committees Effectiveness of oversight committees

Number of motions and questions discussed

Opportunities for oversight committees

Number of motions and questions recorded as Gov’t Pledges/commitments

Challenges and constraints to oversight activities

Duration/time committees/members can spend on reviewing on budget bills, local development plans, and auditor reports

Duration/time that committees/members can spend on reviewing budget bills, local development plans, and auditor reports

Number of members who discussed/questioned/advised on budget bills, local development plan or auditor reports

Effectiveness of budget oversight activities

Effectiveness/challenges of budget oversight (budget bill, local development planning, auditing/monitoring)

Public Access and Communication

Effectiveness of communication and public access, including information distribution

Communication and information facilities (newsletters, website, Social Media)

Media friendliness

Number of public visit to the hluttaw

The flexibility of public and CSO access to hluttaw sessions and information

Visibility of hluttaw offices

Inclusion Space for female representatives and members of parties with minority seats in the parliaments

Number of bills/motions/questions submitted by representatives from minority parties

How actions of representatives from minority parties are treated

Number of bill/motions/questions submitted by female representa-tives

How actions of female representatives are treated


Institutional capacity building initiatives and plans for the parliamentary bodies, individual members and administrative support office and its staff

Regular review and monitoring of hluttaw’s performances

Efforts of local legislatures to remove and reduce structural limitations, and challenges faced

Methods of M&E and M&E Effectiveness

Number of exchanged visits among S/R Hluttaws

Effectiveness of capacity building training

Cooperation and collaboration among S/R Hluttaws and with Union Hluttaws

Capacity building training provided by the state or by external actors such as CSOs, IGOs and INGOs

Efforts of local legislatures to remove and reduce structural limitations, and challenges faced

Number of exchanged visits among S/R Hluttaws

Effectiveness of capacity building training

Cooperation and collaboration among S/R Hluttaws and with Union Hluttaws

Administrative capacity Effectiveness and efficiency of hluttaw administrative offices

Departmental setup of hluttaw office

Effectiveness of hluttaw office support

Facilities (library, documentation and information management)

Challenges and constraints

Number of staff Current staff capacity of hluttaw office

56


Annex C. The occupational background of hluttaw speakers and chief ministers and the relationships between legislative and executive officials

State/Region Background (former positions)Relationship

Head of Legislature Head of the Executive

Kayin Civilian; Advocate Military; Brigadier General The Chief Minister and head of state GAD heavily influenced the hluttaw speaker and legislative officials

Mon Civilian; Head of state GAD Military; Brigadier General; Minister-Ministry of Mining

Mutually respected relationship; State hluttaw was in a position to check and balance the executive

Rakhine Civilian; Head Master (Retired) Military; Brigadier General; Deputy Minister of Home Affairs

The Chief Minister and head of state GAD heavily influenced the hluttaw speaker and legislative officials

Shan Civilian; Deputy Supervisor, Education Dep’t

Military; Lieutenant-Colonel The Chief Minister and head of state GAD heavily influenced the hluttaw speaker and legislative officials

Ayeyarwaddy Military; Major General Military; Brigadier General; Minister of Forestry

The speaker maintained good relationships with the Chief Minister

Sagaing Civilian; Rector of Myitkyina University, Kachin State (Retired)

Military; Lieutenant General; Chief Bureau of Special Operation 1, Naypyitaw, Ministry of Security Affairs

Mutually respected relationship; State Hluttaw was in a position to check and balance the executive

Tanintharyi Military; Deputy Quartermaster General

Civilian; Former Regional Minister of Finance in Tanintharyi Region

Mutually respected relationship; the speaker was able to influence the Chief Minister in some cases. The state hluttaw was in a good position to check and balance the executive

Yangon Military; Colonel; Director - Ministry of Energy (Retired)

Military; Lieutenant General; Chief of Bureau of Special Operation 5; Chief of Military Security Affairs

The Chief Minister and head of state GAD heavily influenced the hluttaw speaker and legislative officials

57


Annex D. Sample Budget of Studied Hluttaws

Sr. Particular/Subject2010-2011 (from 30-1-2011 to 30-3-2011 only)

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015 2015-2016

Total (Kyats in Million)

0102. Regular Expenses/Allowance

xxxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx

1 0100. Regular Expenses/Allowance

xxxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx

0301. Labour Charges x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0304. Transportation Cost x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0305. Stationary x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0306. Petroleum and Lubricants

x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0307. Postal Stamps, Mail and Phones


0308. Electricity-related Expenses


0309. Books, Journals and Newspapers


0313. Office Materials x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0320. Printing and Publication


0321. Advertisement x.xxx x.xxx

2 0300. Materials, Labour and Implementation Cost

xx.xxx xx.xxx xx.xxx xx.xxx

0401. Machinery x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0402. Buildings x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0404. Vehicles x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0409. Other x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

3 0400. Maintenance x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx xx.xxx

0601. Hospitality x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

0602. Refreshments x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx x.xxx

4 0600. Hospitality and Refreshments


Total xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx

3(3) Capital Expenditure

New Plans xx.xxx xx.xxx xxx.xxx

Office Machinery xx.xxx x.xxx xx.xxx

Office Furniture x.xxx xx.xxx xx.xxx

Office Vehicles xx.xxx xx.xxx

Other Materials

Total xx.xxx xx.xxx xx.xxx xxx.xxx

Grand Total xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxx.xxx xxxx.xxx

58


Annex E. Mon State Hluttaw Website

59


Annex F. Sample newsletters distributed by Karen State Hluttaw and Yangon Region Hluttaw

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